Superb Starling
Lamprotornis superbus · Starlings
Superb Starling
Masai Mara, 20 February 2020
A Superb Starling on a termite mound in early light, one of the commonest birds of the East African savanna and one of the tamest; it lives around villages and camps as readily as on the open plain, and the camp kitchen usually has one.
The colour is structural rather than pigment. The blue and green come from the microscopic architecture of the feather scattering light back, which is why they switch off completely when the bird turns away. Superb starlings are cooperative breeders: young from an earlier brood stay on to help raise the next, and a single nest may have half a dozen adults attending it.
Birds, insects, plants and other wildlife, mostly from Brooklyn, with some from further afield.
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