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Golden-breasted Starling / Cosmopsarus regius / Royal Starling. Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle, Washington, USA.

The Golden-breasted Starling, Cosmopsarus regius also known as Royal Starling, "the most beautiful starling in the world", is a medium-sized, up to 35cm long, passerine in the starling family. The adult has a metallic green head and upperback, bright golden yellow breast and belly, dark bill and legs, white iris and metallic violet blue on wings, back, neck and its long tail feathers. Both sexes are similar. The young is duller than adult. The Golden-breasted Starling is distributed to the grassland, savanna and shrubland of northeast Africa, from Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya and northern Tanzania. The Golden-breasted Starling is a social animal, living in groups of three to twelve individuals. Its diet consists mainly of insects and termites. The female usually lays between three to five pale green eggs with red speckles. The nest is made in tree holes, using leaves, roots and other vegetation. Widespread throughout its habitat range, the Golden-breasted Starling is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Photographed in the Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle, Washington, USA.

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Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo
The Golden-breasted Starling, Cosmopsarus regius also known as Royal Starling, "the most beautiful starling in the world", is a medium-sized, up to 35cm long, passerine in the starling family. The adult has a metallic green head and upperback, bright golden yellow breast and belly, dark bill and legs, white iris and metallic violet blue on wings, back, neck and its long tail feathers. Both sexes are similar. The young is duller than adult. The Golden-breasted Starling is distributed to the grassland, savanna and shrubland of northeast Africa, from Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya and northern Tanzania. The Golden-breasted Starling is a social animal, living in groups of three to twelve individuals. Its diet consists mainly of insects and termites. The female usually lays between three to five pale green eggs with red speckles. The nest is made in tree holes, using leaves, roots and other vegetation. Widespread throughout its habitat range, the Golden-breasted Starling is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Photographed in the Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle, Washington, USA.
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