Starlings in captivity

vogelcommando said he had 'cared for' 32 species - he's probably seen far more!



Hix

 

Visited Antwerp Zoo yesterday and althrough this zoo used to have a large starling-collection, yesterday I only was able to discover 4 species :
Rosy starling ( see Rosy starling | ZooChat )
Golden-breasted starling ( see Golden-breasted starling | ZooChat )
Violet-backed starling
Brahminy starling ( see Brahminy starling | ZooChat )
Vision reported that he saw a 5th species earlier this year, the Common hill mynah and I also was wondering that I didn't found the Bali mynah in any of the enclosures ( also I didn't found a sign of it ). Zootierliste mention Antwerp as a current keeper so it would be intresting to know if Antwerp still has them ( then prop. behind the scenes ) or if they really don't have the species anymore.

 

Breeding-programm and education : the Bali starling :

 

Bali mynah at Antwerp zoo isn't anymore on display or is even disappeared (source: Laafse Kikkers Forum).

 

Thank you very much for this info Philpine eagle !

 

Visited 2 major dutch zoos this week so I had hoped to see a good number of starlings...... the total count was however only 3 !
At Burgers Zoo I was able to find only one species, the Scissor-billed starling ( see Scissor-billed Starlings | ZooChat ) from which a small group is kept in the Bird-house and which share their aviary with Superb fruit doves.
A day later I visited Artis - Amsterdam Zoo and here 2 species were seen, both in the "Jungle-section" of the Bird-house being Superb and Bali starling. A third species which should be kept at Artis ( Zootierliste ) was not found but - as said - seen a day before.
Artis has long belonged to the species-richests collections world-wide and in earlier days a good number of starling-species belonged to the standard collection. A few decads ago it was normal to see at least several of the African Glossy starlings, a good number of mynahs - a talking Hill mynah being a must ! - and several of the Sturnus-genus. None if this at all

 

Found these intresting notes of breeding several species of starlings at the Chestnut Lodge ( btw, was this a public collection ? ) by Raymond Sawyer :

Raymond saw Emerald Starlings Lamprotornis iris for the first time in 1954 and thought they were quite the most spectacular and breathtakingly beautiful birds, with their wonderful iridescent plumage. They were the first to ever be imported. Twenty-six were brought back by the joint London Zoo/BBC Zoo Quest Expedition to Sierra Leone, West Africa. Brought back (along with the first White-necked Picathartes Picathartes gymnocephalus) by David Attenborough, Jack Lester and my first Head Keeper, 'Timber' Woods, they were mostly in immature plumage. One pair went to Jean Delacour and another pair to Alfred Ezra, but none to Raymond, something for which he never quite forgave the zoo (I think he blamed the Director Harrison Matthews). Years later David Attenborough told Raymond that if he had known that he had wanted a pair, he would have given a pair to him. Raymond eventually managed to obtain one which Ray Shingler, who had been a keeper in the Bird House at London Zoo, brought back from Sierra Leone in the early 1960s. This bird lived in Raymond's collection for many years.

In 1979, a dealer rang Raymond to say that he had some interesting starlings, including the Emerald. Raymond wrote, that he almost had a fit, and immediately went and bought four or six of these birds, which were all that were available. These were housed in a large aviary and the following year (1980) two young were reared. It was the first time the Emerald Starling had ever been bred in the UK. Emerald Starlings are, wrote Raymond, a flock or colony bird and it is possible to keep several together in a large aviary. A breeding pair will become dominant but provided there is plenty of space and cover, the others will be safe. Raymond noted that Emerald Starlings often carry green leaves in their bills, but remained uncertain whether this was for display or nesting purposes. I think the answer is possibly for both display/pair-bonding and nesting purposes. Emerald Starlings went on to breed at Cobham several more times though not on a regular basis. They generally preferred a sloping-type nest box, with a flat bottom and with wire mesh on the inside to assist the birds to get in and out. The eggs were typical starling eggs, that is mainly light blue with brown/red blotching.

Emerald Starlings are, observed Raymond, highly nervous when first received. They did not make good show birds as they spent their time on the floor of the cage and their plumage became soiled. The same thing happened in quarantine and at dealers' premises and this could result in them picking up infections. The first birds Raymond obtained were not perfect, but nothing was seriously wrong with them. They bathed a lot at first, as lots of birds do when newly arrived. He recommended that the water should be changed each time after they had bathed and considered bathing to be a sign of a good healthy bird. His continued to bathe regularly in almost all types of weather.

Raymond's original pair of Splendid Starlings L. splendidus came from my friends Tim and Jane Barnley, near Kitale, in Western Kenya, which is at the eastern limited of the range of this principally West African species. Raymond considered this starling to be most appropriately named. It is one of the few starlings which is easily sexable, the male being more brightly coloured and larger than the female. The original pair first bred at Cobham in 1976, which was the first time this species had been bred in the UK. However, Jean Delacour had bred the Splendid Starling two years earlier at Cleres, which was probably the first ever captive breeding. Over the first few years the Cobham pair regularly produced young, but was then stolen and was never recovered. Raymond was able to obtain some more Splendid Starlings and had occasional successes, including in 1992, when one was hand-reared. Patrick Taplin, a keeper at the time, put a good deal of time and effort into raising it. Raymond wrote, that whereas the Superb Starlings L. superbus readily went to nest, albeit not always rearing the young, the later Splendid Starlings carried green leaves around the aviary and perhaps even built an incomplete nest, but seldom seemed to lay fertile eggs. This was in marked contrast to the original pair which hatched every egg that was laid and reared all the young. There were still six Splendid Starlings living at Cobham in 1996 and Raymond knew of a few others in bird gardens and private collections and hoped these would form the nucleus of a breeding programme. Raymond failed to mention that the Splendid Starling is a most wonderful mimic, far better than any parrot or hill mynah Gracula spp.

Superb Starlings bred at Cobham in 1996. The Golden-breasted Starling Cosmopsarus regius though had yet to be completely successful. This beautiful starling had reared young which were about to leave the nest but had then died. Golden-breasted Starlings are very prone to getting gapeworms and precautions needed to be taken when they were newly imported, wrote Raymond. However, once established they did well, even in our damp autumns. Amethyst or Violet-backed Starlings Cinnyricinclus leucogaster had also got young to the stage of almost being about to fledge. Here again, this species is easily sexable, although mistakes can occur because young males take up to three years to lose their female-like immature plumage.

 

Raymond's place was not a collection that was open to the public,I had the pleasure of visiting a couple of times before he passed away.

 

"The Golden-breasted Starling Cosmopsarus regius though had yet to be completely successful."

I found this to be of interest as this species regularly hatches young at Chester, but hardly any are reared to maturity.

 

Took care of the Golden-breasted starling at 4 collections ( 3 public and 1 privat but only had eggs of it -several times but never bred it,

 

Yesterday I visited the Olmense Zoo in Belgium and althrough the general development in zoos is that less and less species are kept, this zoo seems to be an exeption and has a very nice collection of starlings. I counted no less then 10 different species which are all kept in the Tropical House :
- Superb starling ( see Superb starling | ZooChat )
- Long-tailed glossy starling - one of 2 starling-species kept in an aviary within the Tropical House, the rest of the species is in the free-flight part.
- Meves's glossy starling ( see Meves's glossy starling | ZooChat ). Olmense Zoo seems to be the only public collection with this species in Europe.
- European starling. I discovered one specimen in one of the larger trees in the Tropical house but guess it wasn't ment to be there. It was also not signed.
- Golden-breasted starling ( see Golden-breasted starling | ZooChat )
- Silky starling ( see Silky starling | ZooChat )
- Bank mynah ( see Bank mynah | ZooChat )
- Greater hill mynah ( see Greater Hill Mynah | ZooChat ). Like the Long-tailed glossy starling housed in an aviary within the Tropical house.
- Red-winged starling ( see Red-winged starling | ZooChat )
- Glossy staling not yet identified ( see Glossy Starling ID | ZooChat ), working on finding-out which species this is.

 

Found these old articles about 2 starling-species :

Species Profiles: Emerald Starling (Lamprotornis iris) | Lindholm | AFA Watchbird

 

And one about breeding the Yellow-faced mynah :

Breeding the Dumont's Mynah | Niznik | AFA Watchbird

 

Visited the Zoo Veldhoven today and found a relative small number of starling-species - all of which are kept in the Tropical house, the 'Bamboe Jungle'.
The 4 species seen were :
-Crested mynah ( see Crested mynah | ZooChat )
-White-shouldered starling ( see White-shouldered starling | ZooChat )
-Bali mynah ( see Bali mynah | ZooChat )
and an still unidentified African glossy starling-species ( see African glossy starling ID | ZooChat )
Zootierliste mention also that the Common mynah should be kept at Zoo Veldhoven but I spend a lot of time in the Tropical Hall and didn't find this species .

 

Yesterday I visited the largest birdpark in the Netherlands - Vogelpark Avifauna - and found a nice starling-collection.
Was able to see 9 different species, 2 more species were signed but I didn't see them and another species was seen last year but was not seen this time and also not signed.
The 9 species seen :
-Purple glossy starling ( see Purple glossy starling | ZooChat )
-Superb starling
-White-shouldered starling ( see White-shouldered starling | ZooChat )
-Wattled starling ( see Wattled starling | ZooChat )
-Violet-backed starling ( see Violet-backed starling Male | ZooChat )
-Asian glossy starling ( see Asian glossy starling | ZooChat )
-Greater hill mynah ( see Greater hill mynah | ZooChat )
-Jungle mynah ( see Jungle mynah | ZooChat )
-Bali mynah ( see Bali mynahs | ZooChat )

For the Silky starling and the Yellow-faced mynah I found signs but didn't see the birds themself - prop. they where in the indoor-enclosures.
The Golden-crested mynah was seen ( and photographed ) by me last year but this time I didn't found them and there was also no sign for them ( but with this, they were not the only ones - a lot of signs were missing..... ).
Evenso, with 9 species seen I was quite happy .

 

Bali mynah conservation :

Bali mynah conservation project gets international support

 

Bali mynah breeding at Knoville Zoo :

Critically Endangered Sisters Hatch at Zoo Knoxville

 

Re-pairing Amethyst ( aka Violet-backed ) starlings at Zoo Atlanta :

An exercise in amethyst starling "dating" - Zoo Atlanta