We are very excited to have these beautiful birds. It has been a very long time since they have been available in the United States. Here is some interesting information on the Greater Blue-eared Starling.
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.
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 Greater Blue-eared Glossy Starling has a range of musical or grating calls, but the most familiar is a nasal squee-ar.
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.
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.
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