Rosy Starling Pastor roseus, breeding male, Altai Prefecture (47.718242, 86.919545), Xinjiang, elev. 500 m (1,630 ft.), May. Rosy Starling is a ‘[d]istinctive pink and black starling’ (MacKinnon 2022). Male shows green sheen on wings. Rosy Starling breeds Ukraine to Mongolia and Xinjiang. Winters India. On migration through Gansu, Qinghai, and Tibet. Vagrant Shanghai. (Craig Brelsford)Female Rosy Starling duller than male with sullied pink body. Feathers on nape are elongated but less pronounced than male. Altai (47.718242, 86.919545), Xinjiang, May. (Craig Brelsford)
Male (L panel) and female (R panel) Rosy Starling foraging together. Rosy Starling ‘[b]reeds on open steppes where … locusts and other grasshoppers [are] abundant’ (Craig & Feare 2009). Altai (47.718242, 86.919545), Xinjiang, May. (Craig Brelsford)BIBLIOGRAPHY
Craig, A. J. F. K. & C. J. Feare. Family Sturnidae (Starlings). P. 727 in: del Hoyo, J., A. Elliot, and D. Christie, eds. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol. 14. Bush-shrikes to Old World Sparrows. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain, 2009.
Grimmett, Richard, Carol Inskipp, & Tim Inskipp. Birds of the Indian Subcontinent. Christopher Helm, London, 2011.
MacKinnon, John. Guide to the Birds of China. Oxford University Press, 2022.
Svensson, Lars, Killian Mullarney, & Dan Zetterström. Collins Bird Guide: The Most Complete Guide to the Birds of Britain and Europe. 2nd ed. HarperCollins, London, 2009.
