Fiery-browed starling facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Fiery-browed starling |
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| Conservation status | |
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Enodes
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| Species: |
erythrophris
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The fiery-browed starling is a cool bird from the starling family. It's also sometimes called the fiery-browed myna. This bird is special because it's the only one in its group, called Enodes. You can easily spot it by the bright reddish-orange stripe above its eye! It lives only on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, mostly in wet mountain forests.
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Discovering the Fiery-Browed Starling
This unique bird was first described in 1824 by a scientist named Coenraad Jacob Temminck. He first gave it the name Lamprotornis erythrophris. Later, in 1839, he decided it needed its own special group, or genus, and named it Enodes. Today, the fiery-browed starling is the only species in the Enodes genus.
What Does the Fiery-Browed Starling Look Like?
The fiery-browed starling is about 27 to 29 centimeters (around 11 inches) long. Both male and female birds look very similar. Their head, back, throat, chest, and belly are a dark grey color.
Key Features
- Eye Stripe: A bright reddish-orange stripe, called a supercilium, starts near its beak and goes over its eye. The feathers right behind the eye are black.
- Wings: Its main wing feathers are brown. The outer parts of these feathers and the feathers covering them are olive-yellow.
- Tail: The lower back area, called the rump, is golden. Its tail is olive-yellow with a creamy white tip.
- Beak and Legs: The bird has a black beak and yellow legs.
Where Do Fiery-Browed Starlings Live?
This bird lives only on the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia. It is found in mountain areas, usually between 500 and 2,300 meters (about 1,600 to 7,500 feet) above sea level. They mostly live in wet mountain rainforests. You might also find them in lowland forests or at the edges of forests.
How Do Fiery-Browed Starlings Behave?
Fiery-browed starlings are social birds. They are often seen in pairs or small groups. Sometimes, you can even spot them in large flocks!
What Do They Eat?
These starlings eat small creatures without backbones, like insects, which are called invertebrates. They also enjoy eating fruit. They are good at climbing tree trunks to find their food. Sometimes, they join other birds, like the Sulawesi myna and grosbeak starling, to eat fruit from the same trees.
What Do They Sound Like?
When they call, you might hear sounds like peeep, tik tik, and other low, rumbling noises. Their song is a repeated metallic sound, like zeek zeek.
Is the Fiery-Browed Starling Safe?
The fiery-browed starling lives in a small area. Its numbers seem to be going down a bit. However, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) doesn't think there are any big threats to this bird right now. Because of this, they have listed it as a least-concern species. This means scientists are not too worried about it becoming endangered soon.
