Mountain starling
Aplonis santovestris Harrisson & A. J. Marshall, 1937
The mountain starling (Aplonis santovestris) is a species in the family Sturnidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh about 68.7 g. Source checklists list it for 1 country: Australia. Its IUCN Red List status is Endangered.
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Quick facts about the mountain starling
- Weight
- 68.7 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Omnivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- forestsrc for Habitat
- Young per litter or clutch
- Not recorded
- Lifestyle
- Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Sedentarysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Endangered (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- 1 countrysrc for Countries on record
Where does the mountain 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 mountain starling is listed for 1 country.
- Listed
- Not listed
The same countries as a list
Listed by: ITIS (scope: global), through the Catalogue of Life.
What is the mountain starling?
The mountain starling (Aplonis santovestris), also known as Vanuatu starling, Santo mountain starling or Santo starling, is a bird species in the family Sturnidae. It is endemic to the island of Espiritu Santo in Vanuatu. It is restricted to the cloud forest on that island. The species was rarely seen in the 20th century and was at one point feared to be extinct, although a 1991 expedition managed to find a population high in the mountains.
From the Wikipedia article “Mountain starling” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mountain_starling&oldid=1330414267), 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 mountain starling endangered?
The mountain starling is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List: it faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Endangered species.
How is the mountain starling classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familySturnidae
- genusAplonis
- SpeciesAplonis santovestris Harrisson & A. J. Marshall, 1937
Other names and names in other languages (35)
- Santo starlingEnglish
- Santo starlingEnglish
- Vanuatu starlingEnglish
- Vanuatu starlingEnglish
- estornell de l'illa Espítitu SantoCatalan
- špaček horskýCzech
- drudwen fynyddWelsh
- Vanuatu TræstærDanish
- RostbürzelstarGerman
- Vanuatua sturnoEsperanto
- espiritusanta sturnoEsperanto
- Estornino de Espíritu SantoSpanish
- espiritusantonkottarainenFinnish
- Stourne d'Espiritu SantoFrench
- Stourne d’Espiritu SantoFrench
- vanuatski čvorakCroatian
- rozsdáshátú énekesseregélyHungarian
- Storno montanoItalian
- ヤマカラスモドキJapanese
- kalninis aplonisLithuanian
- Кырык аплонисWestern Mari
- BergpurperspreeuwDutch
- santostærNorwegian
- skworczyk górskiPolish
- estorninho-de-vanuatuPortuguese
- estorninho-de-espírito-santoPortuguese
- Горный аплонисRussian
- Вануатский скворецRussian
- majna horskáSlovak
- Planinski čvorakSerbian
- santostareSwedish
- Espiritu Santo SığırcığıTurkish
- шпак-малюк гірськийUkrainian
- 山辉椋鸟Chinese
- 山地輝椋鳥Chinese
Relatives of the mountain starling
Other species in the same genus Aplonis.
Asian glossy starling
Aplonis panayensis
Metallic starling
Aplonis metallica
Polynesian starling
Aplonis tabuensis
Kosrae starling
Aplonis corvina
Micronesian starling
Aplonis opaca
Tasman starling
Aplonis fusca
CompareMountain starling vs Asian glossy starlingMountain starling vs Metallic starlingMountain starling vs Polynesian starlingMountain starling vs Kosrae starling
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the mountain starling?
An adult mountain starling weighs 68.7 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Where does the mountain starling live?
Catalogue of Life checklists list the mountain starling for 1 country: Australia. Checklist coverage is uneven, so the true range may be wider.
Is the mountain starling endangered?
The mountain starling is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, meaning it faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild.
What kind of animal is the mountain starling?
The mountain starling (Aplonis santovestris) 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.
- AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Mountain starling (Aplonis santovestris). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/mountain-starling
“Mountain starling (Aplonis santovestris).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/mountain-starling.
@misc{mountain_starling_2026,
title = {Mountain starling (Aplonis santovestris)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/mountain-starling},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}