red-winged starling
onychognathus morio latin

The Red-winged Starling was first described by Linnaeus in 1766.

It is also associated with human settlement, and some related red-winged starling species are known to use man-made structures as nest sites.

When not breeding, Red-winged Starlings are highly gregarious and will associate with other members of their species in large flocks.

The Red-winged Starling builds a nest of grass on a ledge in a sheltered site such as a cave.

The Red-winged Starling builds a lined nest of grass and twigs, and with a mud base, on a natural or structural ledge.

The Red-winged Starling is territorial, aggressive and intolerant when nesting, and will attack other species, including domestic animals and humans.

Red-winged Starling - Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds.

In South Africa the Red-winged Starling is an important disperser of the introduced Acacia cyclops.

Red-winged Starling (Onychognathus morio)

Like other starlings, the Neumann's Red-winged Starling is an omnivore, taking a wide range of fruit, including figs, and some invertebrates.

This species is a popular prey species for many species of bird, such as red-winged starlings and Hadeda Ibises.

Other birds found in the range are the Blackcollared Barbet, the Mocking Chat and the Red-winged Starling.

Neumann's Starling, or Neumann's Red-winged Starling Onychognathus neumanni, is a bird native to Africa.

The Red-winged Starling is extremely common and widespread across the country, absent only in the arid north-west, where it is replaced by its close relative the Pale-winged Starling.

The Red-winged Starling (Onychognathus morio) is a bird of the starling family Sturnidae native to eastern Africa from Ethiopia to the Cape in South Africa.

At last he looked up casually at a flock of red-winged starlings that had come down from the cliffs to perch on the walls of the eastern bastion and give vent to their low, mournful whistles.

Like other starlings, the Red-winged Starling is an omnivore, taking a wide range of seeds, berries, nectar from plants such as Aloe and Schotia brachypetala, and invertebrates, such as the beetle species Pachnoda sinuata.

In rural areas, Red-winged Starlings are often spotted perching on livestock and game, such as cattle, klipspringers and giraffes, a trait shared by the Pale-winged Starling, and may take insects and ectoparasites such as ticks, much in the manner of oxpeckers.

The Red-winged Starling will obviously only perch on plant structures that will be able to support its weight; therefore when taking nectar it will choose certain species with strong, robust racemes with easily accessible flowers, such as that of Aloe ferox and Aloe marlothii, and not Aloe arborescens.

Red-winged Starling (Onychognathus morio)

The Red-winged Starling (Onychognathus morio) is a bird of the starling family Sturnidae native to eastern Africa from Ethiopia to the Cape in South Africa.