Bali Starling Factfile
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Scientific Name : Leucopsar rothschildi
World Distribution
As their name suggests, Bali starlings are from Bali, an island which is part of Indonesia. They are now found only in one particular forest on the west of the island. Fortunately this is in a protected area, the Bali Barat national park.
Habitat
They live in places where there are plenty of trees so that they can find tree holes to nest in. They often nest in old woodpecker holes.
Feeding
Like most types of starlings they have a mixed diet of fruit, seeds and insects. Insects are especially imoortant for young, growing starlings because of the high protein content.
Predators
Birds of prey and snakes eat Bali starlings but their main enemies are people, who do not eat them but put them in cages.
Breeding
It is thought that the beautiful blue eye mask of the Bali starling helps it to attract a mate. The cluster of eggs is kipt warm (incubated) by the female but both parents help to feed the babies, which are born blind and bald. They attempt their first flight before they are a month old.
When a type of animal becomes very rare, there is a problem with "in-breeding" (close relatives mating) which can lead to inherited diseases. For this reason, zoos all over the world are being asked to help work out a breeding programme to make sure that unrelated starlings breed together.