Description
This 25 cm long species is similar to other Onychognathus starlings, showing the characteristic rufous primary wing feathers, very obvious in flight. The iris is dark red, and the bill and legs are black. The male plumage is otherwise mainly glossy black, and the female is ash grey with darker streaking. The juvenile resembles the male, but is less glossy than the adult, and has brown rather than dark red eyes.
The song is a too-whee-oo, and the alarm call is a harsh air, air.
Western populations from western Mali and the Ivory Coast are smaller and shorter-tailed than the nominate form, O. n. neumanni, and are assigned to the subspecies O. n. modicus.
Read more about this topic: Neumann's Starling
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