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Greater Blue-eared Starling


Greater Blue-eared Starling
Photo Information
Copyright: Peter van Zoest (PeterZ) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 5137 W: 166 N: 13121] (49139)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2008-08-02
Categories: Birds
Camera: Nikon D300, AF Nikkor 70-300mm f4-5.6 G, Digital RAW
Exposure: f/11, 1/500 seconds
More Photo Info: [view]
Photo Version: Original Version
Theme(s): CeltickRanger's favorite Bird photos -5- [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2009-10-10 7:08
Viewed: 6621
Points: 74
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
This starling was sitting on a wall of a very old monastery in Gondar in the North of Ethiopia.

The Greater Blue-eared Glossy Starling, or Greater Blue-eared Starling, Lamprotornis chalybaeus, is a bird that breeds from Senegal east to Ethiopia, and south through eastern Africa to northeastern South Africa and Angola. It is a very common species of open woodland which undertakes some seasonal movements.

Description
The Greater Blue-eared Glossy Starling is a 22 cm long, short tailed bird. This starling is glossy blue-green with a purple-blue belly and blue ear patch. Its iris is bright yellow or orange. The sexes are similar, but the juvenile is duller and has blackish brown underparts.

The populations from southern Kenya southwards are smaller than northern birds and are sometimes considered to be a separate subspecies, L. c. sycobius.
The Lesser Blue-eared Glossy Starling is very similar to this species, but the blue of the belly does not extend forward of the legs in that bird.

The Greater Blue-eared Glossy Starling has a range of musical or grating calls, but the most familiar is a nasal squee-ar.

Behaviour
Breeding
The Greater Blue-eared Glossy Starling nests in holes in trees, either natural or excavated by woodpeckers or barbets. It will also nest inside the large stick nests of the Sacred Ibis or Abdim's Stork. The three to five eggs are greenish-blue with some brown or purple spots, and hatch in 13-14 days. The chicks leave the nest in another 23 days.
This species is parasitised by the Great Spotted Cuckoo and occasionally the Greater Honeyguide

Roosting
The Greater Blue-eared Glossy Starling is highly gregarious and will form large flocks, often with other starlings. Its roosts, in reedbed, thorn bushes, or acacia, may also be shared.

Feeding
Like other starlings, the Greater Blue-eared Glossy Starling is an omnivore, taking a wide range of invertebrates seeds and berries, especially figs, but is diet is mainly insects taken from the ground.
It will perch on livestock, feeding on insects disturbed by the animals and occasionally removing ectoparasites.

Source: Wikipedia
matatur, cloud, goatman04, marius-secan, vanderschelden, xTauruSx, maurydv, nglen, zulfu, boreocypriensis, nasokoun, jmirah, Argus, goldyrs, siggi, Noisette, Dis. Ac., Heaven, KOMSIS, Solrac, uleko, CeltickRanger, tcr, Tamrock has marked this note useful
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Discussions
ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To vanderschelden: Surprise!!PeterZ 1 10-10 10:39
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Critiques [Translate]

Hello Peter,
Beautiful bird, verygood captured with excellent colors & sharpnees.
TFS, Nice Weekend.
Ferran

A very beautiful lateral portrait of a Starling against an effective BG Peter, which produces a fine 3-D effect. The perfect focussing resulted in a high degree of definition both in plumage and in colouration. A good example of tele-macro photography indeed!
Mehmet

hallo Peter
erg mooi die parelmoerkleuren en zo scherp
super details
mooi plek om hem goed te kunnen zien
groetjes lou

Ciao Peter. Amazing electric/metallic colours and excellente sharp for this magnifcien bird. Very good DOF. TFS.

Roberto

  • Great 
  • cloud Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 497 W: 111 N: 1535] (9539)
  • [2009-10-10 7:59]

Hello Peter,
I have opportunity to see exotic bird which have very interesting glossy plumage and yellow eyes. Photo is composed very well.
Regards, Pawel

amazing flying jewel, TFS Ori

Hello Peter,

A great shot with lovely coloration, sharpness & fine details.

Very nice pose & BG.

Regards

Umar

Hello Peter,
Superb colours, very good sharpness, nice composition and background.
Marius.

Hallo Peter,
Hopelijk alles goed met jouw.
Mooie metallieke monnik uit Afrika. Herinner me dat ze vaak ongevraagd komen meetafelen...
Groeten
Annick

Hello Peter, wonderful shot of this colourful bird in fine pose with nice composition.
Regards,
Deniz

Hello Peter,
a fantastic picture of the Greater Blue-eared, a very lovely pose of the bird against a marvellous oof BG, very good sharpness and bright colours, very nice composition with a great eye contact.
TFS
Best regards
Maurizio

  • Great 
  • nglen Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2883 W: 30 N: 9683] (36145)
  • [2009-10-10 11:22]

Hi Peter. Firstly thanks for the interesting notes of this fine picture of the Starling. It has so many shades of blue/green.Which you have shown so well. With this well detail ansd sharp focused close up. I like the legs the seem to have all ofthe colours mixed. The yelow eye ring stands out so well . TFS this beauty with us.
Nick..

  • Great 
  • Jamesp Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1369 W: 9 N: 6334] (18906)
  • [2009-10-10 13:47]

Hi Peter

A lovely shot - superb detail and pose and great off BG.

James

  • Great 
  • cirano Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 997 W: 0 N: 944] (13609)
  • [2009-10-10 14:29]

Slav Peter,
A great capture with interesting coloration, sharpness and fine details.Beautiful bird.TFS.
Regards,

Dûrzan

  • Great 
  • zulfu Gold Star Critiquer [C: 685 W: 0 N: 2] (43)
  • [2009-10-10 15:04]

Hello Peter, great shot of this bird with excellent composition, details and colours.
TFS and G's,
Mehmet

Bien captadas esas difíciles tonalidades de esta curiosa ave. Los brillos y colores hacen que parezca algo irreal, pero bien observado uno se da cuenta de buen enfoque y trabajo del conjunto.
Saludos Peter: Josep Ignasi.

Hi and Good Morning MF Peter,

This one is realt perfect capture of thiis beutifully Starling. A spectacular one.
TFP and have a nice Sunday!
Cheers,

Bayram

hello Peter
fine pose and fine POV,I like his expression a lot,extra vivid colors with very fine details,the soft background elects him more,impressive result and photo!
TFS
Nasos

Hi Peter
Amazing color against a fine OOF BG...Well captured...TFS
Jim

  • Great 
  • iti Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 577 W: 0 N: 650] (7939)
  • [2009-10-11 9:11]

Hi Peter,
Very nice image. Nice metallic colours and good details.
Regards Jiri.

  • Great 
  • Argus Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 5038 W: 260 N: 15594] (50626)
  • [2009-10-11 9:54]

Hello Peter,
A very nice capture of this species of Glossy Starling, the POV, colours, BG, sharpness, lighting and composition contributing to a high quality portrait of this species.
TFS this nice image from your archives, Best regards,
Ivan

WOW!
I never knew a starling could be this beautiful, Pter!
An awesome shot!
Bravo!
Goldy

  • Great 
  • siggi Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3097 W: 109 N: 12399] (52850)
  • [2009-10-11 10:51]

Hello Peter,
This is a very nice picture of this colorful Starling. You caught excellent details in a very good composition with superb lightning and exposure. This is very well done. TFS,
Best regards Siggi

Hello Peter
excellent capture of this starling with beautiful green/blue metallic colors
you have taken it vey nicely on the top of this wall with great POV and wonderful sharpness
Have a good night
Jacqueline

  • Great 
  • Mana Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1772 W: 36 N: 5597] (18598)
  • [2009-10-12 0:12]

Hi Peter,
Outstanding shot of this beautiful Greater Blue-eared Glossy Starling with immaculate sharpness and details. Lovely iridescent colours and a fine pose. Superb composition and DOF. Kudos.
TFS.
Sumon

Hallo Peter,
en alweer 1 die ik in een voliere gehouden heb.
Goede dof en achtergrond een uitstekende foto.
Vooral hoe je de kleuren van de Glansspreeuw hebt vastgelegd.
Een van je betere prenten.

Gert

  • Great 
  • Heaven Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 996 W: 123 N: 2341] (7912)
  • [2009-10-12 12:32]

Dear Peter!

It's fascinating to learn so much through your pictures and the accompaning notes. Both are so rich! Moreover, the picture hre shows a bird I have never seen and that surprises by the colours. You have prsented it in a perfect mannar.

Kind regards

Markus

What a colorful bird , love those eyes and the expression here, the diffused BG adds value to the picture.
TFS
www.gouthamramesh.com)

  • Great 
  • KOMSIS Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 820 W: 0 N: 2419] (10674)
  • [2009-10-13 2:38]

Hi Peter,
Biblo like ...
Composition and light utilization,
color and d etaylar superb.
Best wishes,
Seyfi

Hi Peter

Good shot of this shinny starling. Nice eye contact and good sharpness.

Chris

Excelente foto de este ave que parece hecha de metal con muy buen color y detalle
felicidades
buen trabajo
un saludo

  • Great 
  • foozi Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 2791 W: 0 N: 6696] (25839)
  • [2009-10-15 6:46]

Hi Peter,
starlings are very exciting to look at. The shines especially here with the background so blurry. It enhances the colours very much.
What an excellent capture of this lively bird.

regards,
Foozi

  • Great 
  • uleko Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3396 W: 172 N: 3310] (10940)
  • [2009-10-18 9:30]

Hello Peter,
I thought I'd commented on your fantastic capture of this beautiful Starling. I like its pose and the colours of its plumage are stunning. Great focus and a fine background too.
TFS and regards, Ulla

hello Peter

an excellent photo of the Greater Blue-eared Starling
shot with fine POV and framing, superb focus great
sharpness and details, beautiful luminosity,
i love the expression on the bird's eye, TFS

Asbed

  • Great 
  • tcr Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 158 W: 8 N: 538] (3384)
  • [2009-11-21 6:27]

Great colour, composition and light. Beautiful species.
Greetings and TFS.

hello peter!
this is a very fine starling and
i like the matching colours in the
very nice background,sharp and well
composed to!
good work!

Hello Mr.Peter,
I saw this beautiful bird in South Africa,but due to short zoom range I couldn't get it.On 15th May I am going to South Africa again and wish this time I shall get this bird.
Well captured with attractive colour and sharpness.
Thanks for sharing,
Regards and have a nice time,
Srikumar

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