Wattled Starling

Star cloth, not brooding males

The flap Star ( Creatophora cinerea) is a species of starlings and the only member of the monotypic genus cloth starlings. He is a nomadic inhabitants of the east and south of the African continent. He seems to expand in recent years its range to West Africa and has been observed both on the Arabian Peninsula and Madagascar and the Seychelles. Its habitat is grasslands, open woods and cultivated land.

The flap Star is the only African star, who has a relationship with the Asian starlings in particular to the genus Sturnus. His bare facial areas that are particularly conspicuous during the breeding season, make it unique among African starlings.

Appearance

The flap Star reaches a body length of 19-21 centimeters. The tail is short and the wings taper to a point. The plumage is mostly gray. Only the rump is white. The tail and wing feathers are black. Beak and legs are light gray. The male has a bare yellow patch behind and below the eye and nude black skin at the throat. During the breeding season the male can lose his head and neck feathers and train large hanging flap of skin on the throat. Some individuals also form above the beak of another small rag. Size and shape of the lobes vary individually. However, the formation of the lobes appears to increase with increasing age of the bird and also older females occasionally develop small cloth.

Behavior

The flap Star is a colony breeders and breeds occasionally also associated with the Kapweber. The nest is always built in trees or bushes. Preferred nesting trees are acacias. The nest is usually built from one to ten meters above the ground. It consists of pointing and is lined with grass and feathers. The clutch size varies from two to five eggs. The typical clutch but has three or four pale blue eggs. Both parents are involved in the nesting birds as well as the incubation of the eggs and feed the young birds. The incubation period is 11 days. The young birds leave after 13 to 16 days the nest. They are not yet able to fly at this age and are very frequently beaten during this period of raptors.

The flap Star is an opportunistic omnivore, who specializes in some areas on locusts and other swarming locusts. To his food spectrum but also include other invertebrates, berries and seeds. In wine-growing regions, they can cause considerable damage.