Identification: Adults have a long bill, pointed wings and short tail both with buff margins. Breeding adults are overall dark with purple and green iridescence. Non-breeding adults are distinct in their speckly appearance due to pale feather tips. Sexes similar with adult females showing less glossy plumage. Bill is yellow in breeding adults with the base pale blue in males but pale pink in females. Juveniles are a uniform grey-brown with varying amounts of pale-tipped dark feathers depending on progress of moult into the adult plumage. Compared to Asian Glossy Starling in breeding plumage, lacks red eye and has yellow bill and reddish legs. Compared to Chinese Blackbird in breeding plumage, smaller, shorter-tailed, lacks yellow eyering and uniform upperparts.