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Micronesian Starling
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Micronesian Starling
Aplonis opaca
The Micronesian starling (Aplonis opaca) is a species of starling in the family Sturnidae. It is found in Micronesia, from the Northern Mariana Islands to Palau and all the way into eastern Micronesia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest. It is the only native frugivore existing on Guam.
Micronesian starlings are bold around humans and will follow humans as they approach seabird colonies to take the eggs as the seabirds are scared away. They are known as såli in Chamorro and gapl'uw in Yapese; other indigenous names may also exist across Micronesia.
From the article Micronesian starling on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section
What it does
Micronesian starlings consume fruit, seeds, the occasional insect and the eggs of seabirds. The majority of plants they eat fruit from are native to the islands they inhabit. They are a key seed disperser in Mariana Islands forests. Their diet seems to be consistent year-round. Nestlings, juveniles, and adults have similar diets, with the exception of papayas, which are eaten by adults and juveniles but rarely by nestlings.
Wikipedia: “Diet”
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Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
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Every page naming Aplonis opaca in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 14946.