plum-coloured starling

plural plum-coloured starlings · alternative US plum-colored starling · alternative plumcoloured starling

1. Commonwealth spellingSynonym of violet-backed starling.

   Plum-coloured starlings built in the paper tree and from the bougainvillaea we heard the six-noted whistling of the Paradise flycatcher.

   1970, June Kay, “Far Lamorna”, in The Thirteenth Moon, London: Hutchinson & Co, →ISBN, page 16

   2 more examples

   The abundant wealth of plants and trees has attracted some 145 species of bird, including such specimens as green coucals and plum-coloured starlings, which you may be lucky to see along two trails winding through the reserve.

   1995, Vivian Baard, Brian Johnson Barker, Judy Beyer, Jose Burman, Ellen Fitz-Patrick, Jill Gowans, Jane-Anne Hobbs, Peter Joyce, Paul Tingay, “Silverglen Nature Reserve”, in Places to Visit in Southern Africa, Cape Town: AA The Motorist Publications, →ISBN, “Central KwaZulu-Natal” section, page 142, column 2

   She was also busy in the garden where for several days there was a flock of up to thirty plum-coloured starlings along with a crowned hornbill and a brown-hooded kingfisher.

   1998, William Condry, chapter 16, in Wildflower Safari: The Life of Mary Richards, Llandysul, Ceredigion: Gomer Press, →ISBN, page 186

   Synonyms: violet-backed starling