Grosbeak starling | |
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Grosbeak starling at Pinasungkulan, North Sulawesi, Indonesia | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Family: | Sturnidae |
Genus: | Scissirostrum Lafresnaye, 1845 |
Species: | S. dubium |
Binomial name | |
Scissirostrum dubium (Latham, 1801) | |
Synonyms | |
Lanius dubium (protonym) |
The grosbeak starling (Scissirostrum dubium), also known as the grosbeak myna, finch-billed myna, or scissor-billed starling, is a species of starling in the family Sturnidae. It is monotypic in the genus Scissirostrum. [2] It is endemic to Sulawesi, Indonesia, [1] where its natural habitat is tropical lowland, and sometimes subtropical montane, lightly wooded forest areas and wetlands. [1] It is threatened in the wild by habitat loss, and by birds being captured for the cagebird trade. [3]
This species nests in colonies, which frequently contain hundreds of pairs. Its nests are bored in rotting or dying tree trunks in woodpecker style. It eats fruit, insects, and grain. [2] Grosbeak starlings are highly vocal, at their colonies and in feeding flocks. [2]
The grosbeak starling was first described by the English ornithologist John Latham in 1801 under the binomial name Lanius dubium. [4]
New populations, derived from escaped cagebirds, have been found breeding in Kalimantan in Borneo, and in Java. [3]
Media related to Scissirostrum dubium at Wikimedia Commons