CreatureData

Metallic starling

Aplonis metallica (Temminck, 1824)

LCLeast Concernsongbirds

The metallic starling (Aplonis metallica) is a species in the family Sturnidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh 55.7 g to 64 g. Source checklists list it for 1 country: Australia. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Metallic starling (Aplonis metallica)
Photo: DickDaniels ( http://carolinabirds.org/ ) · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the metallic starling

Weight
55.7 g – 64 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Frugivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
forestsrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
1.7src for Young per litter or clutch
Lifestyle
Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
1 countrysrc for Countries on record

Where does the metallic starling live?

Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.

The metallic starling is listed for 1 country.

Australia
  • Listed
  • Not listed
small islands are not drawn at this scale

The same countries as a list

  1. Australia

Listed by: ITIS (scope: global), through the Catalogue of Life.

What is the metallic starling?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The metallic starling (Aplonis metallica), also known as the shining starling, is a bird in the starling family native to the Moluccas, New Guinea, Queensland and the Solomon Islands.

From the Wikipedia article “Metallic starling” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Metallic_starling&oldid=1354729637), 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 metallic starling endangered?

The metallic 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.

How is the metallic starling classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderPasseriformes
  5. familySturnidae
  6. genusAplonis
  7. SpeciesAplonis metallica (Temminck, 1824)

Synonyms Lamprotornis metallicus

Other names and names in other languages (32)
  • Shining starlingEnglish
  • estornell llustrósCatalan
  • špaček lesklýCzech
  • drudwen ddisglairWelsh
  • PragttræstærDanish
  • WeberstarGerman
  • Weber-StarGerman
  • metala sturnoEsperanto
  • Estornino lustrosoSpanish
  • viherkottarainenFinnish
  • Stourne luisantFrench
  • zelenotrbi čvorakCroatian
  • fémes énekesseregélyHungarian
  • Perling unguIndonesian
  • Storno metallicoItalian
  • オナガテリカラスモドキJapanese
  • blizgusis aplonisLithuanian
  • Violette PurperspreeuwDutch
  • metallstærNorwegian
  • skworczyk towarzyskiPolish
  • estorninho-lustrosoPortuguese
  • estorninho-metálicoPortuguese
  • Металлический аплонисRussian
  • Металлический скворецRussian
  • majna družnáSlovak
  • Metalik čvorakSerbian
  • metallstareSwedish
  • นกเอี้ยงเมทัลลิกThai
  • Metalik SığırcıkTurkish
  • шпак-малюк блискітливийUkrainian
  • 群辉椋鸟Chinese
  • 群集椋鳥Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the metallic starling

Other species in the same genus Aplonis.

CompareMetallic starling vs Asian glossy starlingMetallic starling vs Polynesian starlingMetallic starling vs Kosrae starlingMetallic starling vs Micronesian starling

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the metallic starling?

An adult metallic starling weighs 55.7 g – 64 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Where does the metallic starling live?

Catalogue of Life checklists list the metallic starling for 1 country: Australia. Checklist coverage is uneven, so the true range may be wider.

Is the metallic starling endangered?

The metallic 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 metallic starling?

The metallic starling (Aplonis metallica) 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). Metallic starling (Aplonis metallica). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/metallic-starling

MLA

“Metallic starling (Aplonis metallica).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/metallic-starling.

BibTeX
@misc{metallic_starling_2026,
  title = {Metallic starling (Aplonis metallica)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/metallic-starling},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}