Several Spotless Starlings took refuge in the avocado orchard, sitting on the top branches. The specimens shown on this page were photographed in Cabanas de Tavira. The Spotless Starling, Sturnus unicolor, is basically the Iberian answer to the common Starling found elsewhere in Europe and, as the name might suggest, it has, for the majority of the year, no spots. Male: with subdued me-tallic gloss, uniformly-shaded greenish and purple. It is found throughout the Algarve in farmland, coastal areas, old olive and almond groves and in and around buildings. Male: with ob-vious metallic gloss, clearly divided in green and purple. Females in winter and immatures are lightly spotted but never show the intensity of spots so typical of Common Starling. During both reproductive periods, male spotless starlings, like those of the related European starling, carry herbaceous fresh plants, leaves of trees, and flowers into their nests during 710 days before the beginning of laying ( Gwinner 1997 Veiga et al. The Spotless Starling is very similar to the Common Starling, but adults in summer and males in winter display no hint of spots. 2, Passerines : Body length: 19 - 23 cm: Weight: 70 - 100 g : IUCN status: LC (Least Concern) Current Holdings Former Holdings. Foerg : Additional images here: Number of Subspecies: 00: Information Source for Taxanomy: del Hoyo & Collar (2016) Illustrated Checklist of the Birds ot the World, Vol. The breeding season occurs between April and mid-July in Spain.Spotless Starling - Sturnus unicolor Pictures - John Foss Spotless starling Sturnus unicolor TEMMINCK, 1820: Photo by: J. vulgaris'', but has a much more restricted range, confined to the Iberian Peninsula, northwest Africa, southernmost France, and on the islands of Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica. It is closely related to the common starling ''S. From October to January, 1997-1999, during a legal control trapping we captured 229 spotless starlings in mist nets in roosts near Calahorra, Northern Spain (42✡9N 1✥8W). Prior to incubation and in order to stimulate the female, the male adds aromatic fresh leaves to the nest as part of courtship displays, while the female adds feathers in response to the male’s display. The spotless starling is a passerine bird in the starling family, Sturnidae. Like most starlings, the spotless starling is a cavity-nesting species, breeding in tree holes, buildings and in cliff crevices. The Spotless Starling is very similar to the Common Starling, but adults in summer and males in winter display no hint of spots. Breeding occurs from April to mid-July in Spain and March to July in Morocco. The spotless starling has a wide range of habitats and can be found in any reasonably open environment, from farmland and olive groves to urban parks and gardens. Here we experimentally assess the signaling function of ultraviolet coloration of feathers in nests of spotless starlings by providing nests with a number of pigeon flight feathers that were respectively treated on their obverse, reverse, both, or neither side with a UV blocker. This species is found in open woodland with expanses of short grass, often in association with grazing mammals as well as in farmland, parks, gardens and cities. It is closely related to the common starling, but has a much more restricted range, confined to the Iberian Peninsula, Northwest Africa, southernmost France, and the islands of Sicily, Corsica and Sardinia. It is a noisy bird and a good mimic and its calls are similar to the common starling's, but louder. The spotless starling is a passerine bird in the starling family, Sturnidae. Philopatry is remarkable in this species, with more than 90 of the juveniles (both males and females) recruiting within a radius of 500 m from the natal nest (see Methods ). The adult spotless starling is slightly larger than the common starling and has longer throat feathers forming a shaggy "beard" which is particularly obvious when the bird is singing. Here, we tested this hypothesis by experimentally broken faecal sacs and spreading them in nests of spotless starlings Sturnus unicolor, thereby avoiding their removal by adults. The spotless starling is a gregarious species that frequently nests in loose colonies. The spotless starling is closely related to the common starling but has a much smaller range, being confined to the Iberian Peninsula, Northwest Africa, southernmost France, and the islands of Sicily, Corsica and Sardinia.
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