Starlings (Sturnidae)

Greater Blue-eared Starling (Lamprotornis chalybaeus) - HBW 14, p. 752

French: Choucador à oreillons bleus German: Grünschwanz-Glanzstar Spanish: Estornino Orejiazul
Other common names: (Greater) Blue-eared/Green Glossy Starling

Taxonomy: Lamprotornis chalybaeus Hemprich and Ehrenberg, 1828, Ambukol, Dongla district, Sudan.
Race nordmanni sometimes treated as a synonym of sycobius. Proposed race hartlaubi (described from Senegal), formerly used for N populations (E to Sudan), is regarded as synonymous with nominate. Four subspecies recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution:

chalybaeus Hemprich & Ehrenberg, 1828 - S Mauritania, Senegambia, S Mali, Burkina Faso, S Niger and N Nigeria E to C Sudan; dry-season visitor to N Ivory Coast, Togo and Benin.
cyaniventris Blyth, 1855 - Eritrea, Ethiopia, NW Somalia, N Uganda, E DRCongo and N Kenya.
sycobius ( Hartlaub, 1859) - SW Uganda, S Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, SE DRCongo, N & E Zambia, Malawi and W Mozambique.
nordmanni ( E. J. O. Hartert & Neumann, 1914) - S Angola and N Namibia E to N & E Botswana, S Zambia, Zimbabwe, NE South Africa and S Mozambique.