Field Guide : Violet-backed Starling (Male)
Unlimited edition. 18 x 24 inch, museum-quality poster on matte paper.
Because they are generally common and abundant, starling species aren’t often included on visually-stunning shortlists, but you’d be hard pressed to discount the male violet-backed starling. His remarkable mantle is iridescent; its variation dazzles, making it very hard to create a representative color column. I did my best to average out the violets, indigos, magentas, and lavenders that dance across the bird’s back even in the most neutral of lighting conditions. His female counterpart’s outfit is very different. Her head and back are predominantly beige with brown streaks and her breast and belly are white and cream, also streaked with brown. Both the male and female starlings have straw yellow irises, however, represented in this color column by the bottom-most bar. (I’ve included a detail of the column’s base, as the scale and quality of images on social media makes the base bars difficult to see otherwise.)
The violet-backed starling is common in the woodlands, savannah, and forest fringes of sub-Saharan Africa. It’s mainly a fruit-eater, but it eagerly eats insects, too, including termites and winged ants. To catch the flying insects, the starling “hawks” – that is, it jumps from a perch to capture prey on the wing – or will glean its prey directly from branches. Rarely, though, will it catch prey or eat fruit off the ground. In fact, unlike most of its starling relatives, the violet-backed starling doesn’t spend much time on the ground for any purpose.
Note: These archival poster prints feature rich, appealing colors. I encourage customers to take care in handling them until they are framed/protected for display; the darker colors on the matte paper can be scratched. They ship rolled, so customers need to flatten them before framing (or have their framer do so).
Charitable Sales Model: Whenever one of these poster prints is purchased, a charitable contribution equal to 10% of the print’s cost (or $3.60) is made to a nonprofit working to tackle environmental or social challenges. Read more about my charitable sales model here.
Unlimited edition. 18 x 24 inch, museum-quality poster on matte paper.
Because they are generally common and abundant, starling species aren’t often included on visually-stunning shortlists, but you’d be hard pressed to discount the male violet-backed starling. His remarkable mantle is iridescent; its variation dazzles, making it very hard to create a representative color column. I did my best to average out the violets, indigos, magentas, and lavenders that dance across the bird’s back even in the most neutral of lighting conditions. His female counterpart’s outfit is very different. Her head and back are predominantly beige with brown streaks and her breast and belly are white and cream, also streaked with brown. Both the male and female starlings have straw yellow irises, however, represented in this color column by the bottom-most bar. (I’ve included a detail of the column’s base, as the scale and quality of images on social media makes the base bars difficult to see otherwise.)
The violet-backed starling is common in the woodlands, savannah, and forest fringes of sub-Saharan Africa. It’s mainly a fruit-eater, but it eagerly eats insects, too, including termites and winged ants. To catch the flying insects, the starling “hawks” – that is, it jumps from a perch to capture prey on the wing – or will glean its prey directly from branches. Rarely, though, will it catch prey or eat fruit off the ground. In fact, unlike most of its starling relatives, the violet-backed starling doesn’t spend much time on the ground for any purpose.
Note: These archival poster prints feature rich, appealing colors. I encourage customers to take care in handling them until they are framed/protected for display; the darker colors on the matte paper can be scratched. They ship rolled, so customers need to flatten them before framing (or have their framer do so).
Charitable Sales Model: Whenever one of these poster prints is purchased, a charitable contribution equal to 10% of the print’s cost (or $3.60) is made to a nonprofit working to tackle environmental or social challenges. Read more about my charitable sales model here.
Unlimited edition. 18 x 24 inch, museum-quality poster on matte paper.
Because they are generally common and abundant, starling species aren’t often included on visually-stunning shortlists, but you’d be hard pressed to discount the male violet-backed starling. His remarkable mantle is iridescent; its variation dazzles, making it very hard to create a representative color column. I did my best to average out the violets, indigos, magentas, and lavenders that dance across the bird’s back even in the most neutral of lighting conditions. His female counterpart’s outfit is very different. Her head and back are predominantly beige with brown streaks and her breast and belly are white and cream, also streaked with brown. Both the male and female starlings have straw yellow irises, however, represented in this color column by the bottom-most bar. (I’ve included a detail of the column’s base, as the scale and quality of images on social media makes the base bars difficult to see otherwise.)
The violet-backed starling is common in the woodlands, savannah, and forest fringes of sub-Saharan Africa. It’s mainly a fruit-eater, but it eagerly eats insects, too, including termites and winged ants. To catch the flying insects, the starling “hawks” – that is, it jumps from a perch to capture prey on the wing – or will glean its prey directly from branches. Rarely, though, will it catch prey or eat fruit off the ground. In fact, unlike most of its starling relatives, the violet-backed starling doesn’t spend much time on the ground for any purpose.
Note: These archival poster prints feature rich, appealing colors. I encourage customers to take care in handling them until they are framed/protected for display; the darker colors on the matte paper can be scratched. They ship rolled, so customers need to flatten them before framing (or have their framer do so).
Charitable Sales Model: Whenever one of these poster prints is purchased, a charitable contribution equal to 10% of the print’s cost (or $3.60) is made to a nonprofit working to tackle environmental or social challenges. Read more about my charitable sales model here.