# Rosy starling (*Pastor roseus*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/rosy-starling  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The rosy starling (Pastor roseus), also called the Rose-colored or Rose-coloured starling, is a bird in the family Sturnidae and the order Passeriformes, grouped with the songbirds and other perching birds. It is a small, migratory, perching omnivore of grassland, with an adult body mass of 73 g and reported values from 65 g to 80 g. It lays one clutch per year of 4.2 eggs (up to 5), incubated for 15 days, and reaches sexual maturity at 363.5 days. The species is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category, and its geographic range covers 5,911,000 km².

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 65 g – 79.6 g |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Lifespan | 11 years |
| Diet | Omnivore |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | grassland |
| Egg incubation | 15 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 4.2 – 5 |
| Age at maturity | 11.9 months |
| Litters or clutches a year | 1 |
| Lifestyle | Perching |
| Migration | Migratory |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Aves
- order: Passeriformes
- family: Sturnidae
- genus: Pastor
- species: *Pastor roseus* (Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms: *Stilbo roseus*, *Sturnus asiaticus*, *Sturnus roseus*, *Turdus roseus*

## Common questions

### What kind of animal is the rosy starling?

The rosy starling is a bird in the family Sturnidae, order Passeriformes, in the group of songbirds and other perching birds.

### How heavy is a rosy starling?

An adult Rosy starling weighs 73 g, with reported values from 65 g to 80 g. It falls in the small size class.

### What does the rosy starling eat?

The rosy starling is an omnivore.

### What habitat does the rosy starling use?

The rosy starling lives in grassland and is a migratory, perching bird.

### Is the rosy starling endangered?

No. The rosy starling is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.

### How many eggs does the rosy starling lay?

The rosy starling lays 4.2 eggs per clutch, up to 5, in one clutch per year. The eggs are incubated for 15 days.

### How long does the rosy starling live?

The lifespan given for the rosy starling is 11 years.

### Who named the rosy starling?

The rosy starling, Pastor roseus, carries the authority (Linnaeus, 1758).

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), CC0 1.0, E096-269. Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
- [AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7), 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](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), 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
- [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org), per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed), 2026-11-11. Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), 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).

Cite as: Rosy starling (Pastor roseus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/rosy-starling