Daurian Starling

Daurian Starling (Agropsar sturninus) is a small East Asian starling with a pale grey head and underparts, glossy dark wings and a rich purple or chestnut back. Body shape, bill structure, plumage pattern and voice provide the strongest field characters. Age, sex and season may alter its appearance, so identification should combine several features and careful direct field comparisons with similar species in the same habitat (Wikipedia, general species account).

It breeds from eastern Mongolia and south-eastern Russia to Korea and central China, forages in flocks for insects and fruit and migrates south to tropical Asia outside breeding. Its movements and social behaviour vary through the year, with breeding birds generally more dispersed and non-breeding birds gathering where food is concentrated. Japanese records place it within the country's documented avifauna as a resident, migrant or visitor (Wikipedia, general species account; Wildlife of Japan occurrence records).