Chestnut-cheeked Starling

This species is defined as a Review Species . Please submit your records of this species via our record submission page .

Scientific Name: Agropsar philippensis

Malay Name: Perling Pipi Coklat

Chinese Name: 紫背椋鸟

Alternative Name(s): Red-cheeked Starling, Violet-backed Starling

Range: Found from Sakhalin to Northern Japan, wintering to Southern Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, Borneo, Peninsula Malaysia and Singapore.

Taxonomy: Monotypic.

Size: 16.5-17 cm

Identification: Male resembles Daurian Starling but has diagnostic chestnut patch on ear-coverts and neck-side. Female without chestnut patch and difficult to separate from female Daurian Starling but when in flight, lacks whitish tips to scapulars, greater coverts and tertials.

Similar looking species: Daurian Starling, White-shouldered Starling

Habitat: Wooded areas and open habitats.

Behaviour/Ecology: Feed on insects and fruits.

Local Status: Vagrant

Conservation Status: Least Concern (BirdLife International 2018)

Past records in our database:

Showing only accepted records. Note that records currently under review are also not displayed, and the list may not be a full list of records of this species in Singapore. For more details, check the database here.

Migrant bar chart (see more bar charts):

Chestnut-cheeked Starling Agropsar philippensis
Average number of individuals by week based on Singapore Bird Database data, Jul 2013 to Jun 2023 (all records)
Peak week Dec 03-Dec 09
Early date 11 Oct 2014
Late date 20 Mar 2021
A truly difficult species to twitch – although it has more than one record per year on average since 2019, repeated efforts to relocate reported birds have often proved futile.
Chestnut-cheeked Starling. Photo Credit: Mohamad Zahidi
Male Chestnut-cheeked Starling in flight at Henderson Waves Bridge. Photo credit: See Toh Yew Wai
Male Chestnut-cheeked Starling in flight at Henderson Waves Bridge. Photo credit: See Toh Yew Wai
Chestnut-cheeked Starling at Bidadari. Photo credit: Mohamad Zahidi
Chestnut-cheeked Starling. Photo Credit: Mohamad Zahidi

External Links:

Conservation Status: IUCN Red List Page

Sound Recordings: xeno-canto Link

Wikipedia Entry: Wikipedia Link

eBird Species page: eBird (Chestnut-cheeked Starling)

References:

BirdLife International. (2018). Agropsar philippensis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22710874A131960017.en. Accessed on 1 January 2023

Robson, C. (2014). Field guide to the birds of South-East Asia (Second Edition). Bloomsbury Publishing, London.

Wells, D. R. (1999). The Birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsula (Vol. 1). Academic Press, London.

RECOMMENDED CITATION

Bird Society of Singapore. (n.d.). Chestnut-cheeked Starling. Retrieved on November 30, 2023 from https://singaporebirds.com/species/chestnut-cheeked-starling.

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