#1119 · 🐦 birds

Spotless Starling

🇳🇱 Zwarte Spreeuw ·Sturnus unicolor

LCleast concern 🐦 Birds 📍 in Europe, not in NL

10 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences

1. © Luca Ghiraldi · CC BY-NC 4.0
2. © naturpel · CC BY-NC 4.0
3. © Gustavo Durán · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
4. © arian_allenstein · CC BY-NC 4.0
5. 43-109 Tychy, Polska:© arekw · CC BY-NC 4.0
6. Toledo, España:© Ricardo Rodero Henández · CC BY-NC 4.0
7. 37497 Espeja, Salamanca, Spagna:© Rino Di Noto · CC BY-NC 4.0
8. Porto, Portugal:© António Terra · CC BY-NC 4.0
9. Prowincja Alicante, Hiszpania:© Fenri · CC BY-NC 4.0
10. Vila Real, 5000, Portugal:© Bruno Peixoto · CC BY 4.0

what is it?

The spotless starling ( Sturnus unicolor ) is a passerine bird in the starling family, Sturnidae. It is closely related to the common starling S. vulgaris , but has a much more restricted range, confined to the Iberian Peninsula, northwest Africa, southernmost France, and the islands of Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica. It is largely non-migratory.

base stats

NL sightings 0iNaturalist, research grade
worldwide 17,525iNaturalist observations
weight 95.4 gadult, up to
threat LCleast concern

Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).

fun facts

No confirmed wild sightings in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: you'd have to travel for this one.
17,525 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
Weighs only about 95 g.
Scientifically named by Coenraad Jacob Temminck in 1820 (206 years ago).