Starlings (Sturnidae)

Spotless Starling (Sturnus unicolor) - HBW 14, p. 725

French: Étourneau unicolore German: Einfarbstar Spanish: Estornino Negro
Other common names: Mediterranean Starling

Taxonomy: Sturnus unicolor Temminck, 1820, Sardinia.
Forms a superspecies with S. vulgaris; formerly considered conspecific, and genetic differentiation only slight, some hybridization occurring in area of breeding overlap. On basis of recent molecular data, coupled with behaviour, may be only distantly related to some of the other species often assigned to present genus. Monotypic.

Distribution: Iberian Peninsula, S France, N Africa (Morocco, NE Algeria and Tunisia), and Mediterranean islands of Corsica, Sardinia and Sicily.