Blue-eared Glossy Starling Lamprotornis chloropterus/chalybaeus

The Blue-eared Glossy Starling comes in two species, the Lesser, Lamprotornis chloropterus, in the first two photos above, and the Greater, Lamprotornis chalybaeus, above right. Both have a range of most of sub-Saharan Africa and both look similar in size and plumage. The extent of blue plumage on the under-belly is the determining feature between the two species.