CreatureData

Chestnut-tailed starling

Sturnia malabarica (J. F. Gmelin, 1789)

LCLeast Concernsongbirds

The chestnut-tailed starling (Sturnia malabarica) is a species in the family Sturnidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh 36.4 g to 40 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Chestnut-tailed starling (Sturnia malabarica)
Photo: Touhid biplob · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the chestnut-tailed starling

Weight
36.4 g – 40 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Omnivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
woodlandsrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
3.9src for Young per litter or clutch
Lifestyle
Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Partialsrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the chestnut-tailed starling live?

Not recorded

What is the chestnut-tailed starling?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The chestnut-tailed starling (Sturnia malabarica), also called grey-headed starling and grey-headed myna is a member of the starling family. It is a resident or partially migratory species found in wooded habitats in India and Southeast Asia. The species name is after the distribution of a former subspecies in the Malabar region. While the chestnut-tailed starling is a winter visitor to peninsular India, the closely related resident breeding population with a white head is now treated as a full species, the Malabar starling (Sturnia blythii).

From the Wikipedia article “Chestnut-tailed starling” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chestnut-tailed_starling&oldid=1314490926), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the chestnut-tailed starling endangered?

The chestnut-tailed starling is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.

How is the chestnut-tailed starling classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderPasseriformes
  5. familySturnidae
  6. genusSturnia
  7. SpeciesSturnia malabarica (J. F. Gmelin, 1789)

Synonyms Sturnus malabaricus, Sturnus malabaricus malabaricus, Turdus malabaricus

Other names and names in other languages (39)
  • زرزور كستنائي الذيلArabic
  • কাঠ শালিকBangla
  • estornell de cap cendrósCatalan
  • Сӑрӑ пуҫлӑ шӑнкӑрчChuvash
  • špaček šedohlavýCzech
  • špaček rezavobřichýCzech
  • Gråhovedet StærDanish
  • GraukopfstarGerman
  • grizkapa sturnoEsperanto
  • Estornino malabarSpanish
  • سار دم بلوطیPersian
  • harmaasiipikottarainenFinnish
  • Martin à tête griseFrench
  • Étourneau à tête griseFrench
  • Druid cheannliathIrish
  • bjeloglavi čvorakCroatian
  • szürkefejű seregélyHungarian
  • Մոխրագլուխ սարյակArmenian
  • Storno codacastanaItalian
  • インドコムクドリJapanese
  • pilkagalvis varnėnasLithuanian
  • ചാരത്തലക്കാളിMalayalam
  • GrijskopspreeuwDutch
  • gråhodestærNorwegian
  • szpak szarogłowyPolish
  • estorninho-malabarPortuguese
  • estorninho-de-cabeça-cinzentaPortuguese
  • estorninho-de-malabarPortuguese
  • estorninho-do-malabarPortuguese
  • Сероголовый скворецRussian
  • škorec sivohlavýSlovak
  • gråhuvad stareSwedish
  • นกกิ้งโครงแกลบหัวเทาThai
  • Kızılca SığırcıkTurkish
  • шпачок сіроголовийUkrainian
  • Шпачо́к сіроголовийUkrainian
  • 灰头椋鸟Chinese
  • 栗尾椋鳥Chinese
  • 灰頭椋鳥Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the chestnut-tailed starling

Other species in the same genus Sturnia.

CompareChestnut-tailed starling vs Brahminy starlingChestnut-tailed starling vs White-shouldered starlingChestnut-tailed starling vs White-headed starlingChestnut-tailed starling vs Blyth’s starling

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the chestnut-tailed starling?

An adult chestnut-tailed starling weighs 36.4 g – 40 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the chestnut-tailed starling endangered?

The chestnut-tailed starling is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

What kind of animal is the chestnut-tailed starling?

The chestnut-tailed starling (Sturnia malabarica) belongs to the family Sturnidae in the order Passeriformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Chestnut-tailed starling (Sturnia malabarica). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/chestnut-tailed-starling

MLA

“Chestnut-tailed starling (Sturnia malabarica).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/chestnut-tailed-starling.

BibTeX
@misc{chestnut_tailed_starling_2026,
  title = {Chestnut-tailed starling (Sturnia malabarica)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/chestnut-tailed-starling},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}