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Rosy Starling or the Pastor bird

In the second of the series of birdlife encountered by the author while posted in NhavaSheva, we present to you the Rosy Starling(Pastor roseus).

It has been almost a year since I am at NhavaSheva – a most delightful year whereI have made acquaintance with some beautiful feathered friends. One of the birds I encountered was the Rosy starling(Pastor roseus), a passerine bird of the starling family.

The Rosy starling is a bird from the myna family, black andwhite in color. I noticed that this bird always faces the sun. It has a beautiful plumage, with a whitish pinkpatch on the back. As a photographer,Ialways wanted to take a photo of the posterior viewof this particular bird,but discovered it to be a very difficult venture to capture the photo.

Rosystarlings, similar to the flamingos, are gregarious creatures and remain together in large groups.They fly quickly when they hear thesound of passing vehicles or a person walking. It is a medium size bird with a glossy black head crest, pale pink-tinged body and a yellowbeak. It is winter visitor to many parts of the Indian subcontinent. The bird feeds on insects such a grasshoppers, berries, nectar and small grains. They are strongly attracted to flowering trees and form large noisy flocks when disturbed. Starling murmurations a marvelously awe-inspiringsight during twilight, where a flock performs a perfect synchronized balletin the sky.

                                                                                                             

About the Author /

Sylvester Alphonso has worked as faculty in the Bureau of Maritime affairs, Gulf Coast training technologies and Great Eastern as marine instructor. He is passionate about nature and conservation, as well as birding and photography. He has won several awards including those for owning the highest collection of CDs and DVDs and the highest collection of photographs, India Book of Records, 2012.

Comments(6)

  • Laxman

    May 23, 2019

    Nice one sir 👌👌👌

  • Kunal

    May 24, 2019

    Great One ..Keep it up !!

  • Dr. Asif

    May 25, 2019

    Good reading
    Keep posting!

  • Russell Valentine

    June 1, 2019

    Good knowledge, very specific. Delight to read and learn about birds.

  • Nirupa Ramanna

    July 10, 2020

    Sleek

  • Zaheer

    December 13, 2020

    Nice sir

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