Grosbeak starling

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Grosbeak starling
Grosbeak Starling, Pinasungkulan, North Sulawesi, Indonesia 0A2A5992 (cropped).jpg
Grosbeak starling at Pinasungkulan, North Sulawesi, Indonesia
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
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]

References

  1. 1 2 3 BirdLife International (2018). "Scissirostrum dubium". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2018: e.T22711001A132091764. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22711001A132091764.en . Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 Feare, C., Craig, A., Croucher, B., Shields, C., & Komolphalin, K. 1998. Starlings and Mynas. Christopher Helm. ISBN   0-7136-3961-X
  3. 1 2 Iqbal, Muhammad; Prawira, Aril Magda; Wicaksono, Gusti; Taufiqurrahman, Imam (2018-09-01). "Records of Grosbeak Starling Scissirostrum dubium from Kalimantan, Borneo, and its widespread occurrence on Java. BirdingASIA 29: 109–113". BirdingAsia. 29: 109–113. ISSN   1744-537X . Retrieved 2025-08-24.
  4. Latham, John (1801). Supplementum indicis ornithologici sive systematis ornithologiae (in Latin). London: Leigh & Sotheby. p. xviii.

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