Magpie Starling (Speculipastor bicolor)
About the Magpie Starling
The magpie starling (Speculipastor bicolor) is a member of the starling family from eastern Africa. The magpie starling is about 16–19 cm (6.5–7.5 in) in length. The white patches at base of primaries are obvious in flight. The male is a shiny blue-black on upperparts, head and upper breast, with mostly white below and bloodred eyes. The female is a dull blackish above with dark grey crown, and a dark grey throat is separated from white belly by a glossy black breast band. Her eyes are red or orange-red. The Juvenile is brown with a white belly; eyes brown, becoming orange-red in as the bird matures. Exceptional young birds are entirely white below, including chin and throat. The call is a prolonged soft babbling quereeeh quaaa kereek quak-quak, suaaaa, cherak-chik-chak.mixed higher harsh notes.
No audio on this page yet
We only publish recordings we may use commercially, because this site is supported by ads. xeno-canto lists 6 recordings for this species: 3 CC BY-NC-SA · 1 CC BY-NC-ND. None of them permits commercial use, so there is no player here — the page is kept as a profile so the bird is not missing from the guide.
As soon as someone uploads a freely licensed recording, we mirror it and the player appears here.
Listed as recorded in Ethiopia, Kenya in the xeno-canto catalogue.
Other birds you can hear here
- Abyssinian ThrushTurdus abyssinicusrecording
- African CitrilCrithagra citrinelloidesrecording
- African GoshawkAccipiter tachirorecording
- African Hill BabblerSylvia abyssinicarecording
- African Pied WagtailMotacilla aguimprecording
- African Reed WarblerAcrocephalus baeticatusrecording
These are the birds recorded alongside it, not close relatives — the site holds no other member of its genus or family yet.