A bird one cannot help smiling at is the Pied Starling (Lamprotornis bicolor), called a Witgatspreeu in Afrikaans. They are endemic to South Africa and cover a large range – although do not appear to frequent urban areas. I sometimes spot them in the grassland on the edges of our town yet mainly enjoy their presence when visiting the Mountain Zebra National Park. This is where one can get very close to them to observe their antics.
Pied Starlings spend a lot of their time on the ground looking for insects which form the bulk of their diet. I once observed one catching and eating a spider that was walking across a lawn.
These birds are also known to eat fruit, nectar and seeds.
They are fairly large birds with an upright posture that allows one to see their white vent and belly. Very noticeable too are their white eyes.
The eyes of juveniles are dark, as you can see in the photograph below.
Their bills – black above and yellow below – sport a yellow wattle at the gape, which gives them a comical look as if they have a down-turned mouth.
We’ve got a lot of them here in our area
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They are great fun to watch.
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Indeed😊
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Really well photographed
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I appreciate your compliment, Derrick. Thank you very much.
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#1 – splendid avian portrait!
✨🙏🕉☀🌙⚖🪔🕊♾🈚☯🌍🐲🙋♂️
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They look fearsome when seen from so close 🙂
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This is a hansome bird. That picture of the PIST with the spider is spectacular. The spider appears to be quite large. The white eye seems quite unusual. We have only one bird with white eyes, White-eyed Vireo. It is a small bird and likes thickets which makes it difficult to view. That white eye is quite beautiful when you get to actually see it. The White-eyed Vireo is a summer resident and nests here in our area.
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We also get a Cape White-eye, which is a very beautiful little bird.
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They do seem to have a ‘sad clown’ look to them… rather expressive!
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They move so fast that it isn’t easy getting very close-up photographs of them; I nonetheless enjoy looking at their expressions through my telephoto lens.
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Yes, expressive. A striking-looking bird.
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I am glad you stopped by to look at them, Laurie.
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They are striking looking. Fine portrait shot!
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Thank you very much.
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The beak colouring makes them look permanently disdainful.
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I think so too.
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You’ve caught their expressions really well. The first one looks so ‘What? What??Whaaat???’
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Thank you very much, Jaya 🙂
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They also make me smile, even just at hearing their name. The English name is so polite, calling them “pied” even when only a relatively small portion of them is white. The Afrikaans name narrows it down perfectly! 😀
Your photographs are beautiful, Anne. I especially like the one looking at the juvenile from below; he has such a regal pose in that shot!
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Afrikaans names are generally more apt and very practical, I think. At least they don’t appear to have changed much according to the whims of international ornithologists.
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