Pied Starling
Lamprotornis bicolor
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Chordates)
- ClassAves (Birds)
- OrderPasseriformes (Perching Birds)
- FamilySturnidae (Starlings)
- GenusLamprotornis (Glossy Starlings and Allies)
- SpeciesLamprotornis bicolor (Pied Starling)
About the Pied Starling
The pied starling or African pied starling (Lamprotornis bicolor) is a bird endemic to South Africa, Lesotho and Eswatini. It is common in most of its range, but largely absent from the arid northwest and the eastern lowlands of South Africa. It is found in open habitats such as grassland, karoo scrub, thornbush and agricultural land, and often associates with farm animals.
The pied starling was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with the thrushes in the genus Turdus and coined the binomial name Turdus bicolor. Gmelin based his description on "Le merle brun du cap de Bonne Espérance" that had been described in 1775 by the French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon in his book Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux. The pied starling is now placed in the genus Lamprotornis that was introduced in 1820 by the Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck. The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.
The adult of this 27–28 cm (11 in) long starling has mainly dully glossed black plumage except for a white lower belly and... Wikipedia →
Closest Relatives at Golden Gate Highlands National Park
Red-shouldered Glossy-starling
Lamprotornis nitens
Red-winged Starling
Onychognathus morio
Wattled Starling
Creatophora cinerea
African Stonechat
Saxicola torquatus
Cape Bunting
Emberiza capensis
Southern Fiscal
Lanius collaris
White-necked Raven
Corvus albicollis
Cape White-eye
Zosterops virens
Cape Weaver
Ploceus capensis
African Red-eyed Bulbul
Pycnonotus nigricans
Bokmakierie
Telophorus zeylonus
Rock Martin
Ptyonoprogne fuligula
Global Distribution
Where this species is recorded worldwide. Restricted to human observations from 2019 onwards — the same kind of record and the same period the probabilities on this page are built from, so collar-tracking studies, camera-trap arrays and museum specimens are excluded. Around Santa Rosa that removes 5,924 GPS fixes from a handful of tagged jaguars.
where this species is recorded (GBIF density — it tracks where observers go, not how likely a sighting is) · parks where it occurs — tap a pin for the sighting probability there
Parks Where Found
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Golden Gate Highlands National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | Addo Elephant National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | Kruger National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 4 | Table Mountain National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 5 | Garden Route National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 6 | Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 7 | Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 8 | Pilanesberg National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 9 | iSimangaliso Wetland Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
Quick answers
What are the chances of seeing a Pied Starling in Golden Gate Highlands National Park?
About 80% of wildlife watchers report a Pied Starling sighting in Golden Gate Highlands National Park, based on 117 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data.
When is the best time to see Pied Starling in Golden Gate Highlands National Park?
January has the highest sighting rate for Pied Starling in Golden Gate Highlands National Park in our monthly data.