The Cape starling (Lamprotornis nitens) is a medium-sized passerine bird in the starling family, Sturnidae, found in southern Africa. It is a gregarious bird and forms large flocks outside the breeding season. It usually feeds on the ground, often foraging alongside other species of starlings. Habituated to humans, its diet includes fruit, insects and nectar. It sometimes feeds on ectoparasites that it picks off the backs of animals or visits bird tables for scraps. This Cape starling, of the subspecies L. n. phoenicopterus, was photographed in Damaraland, Namibia.Photograph credit: Charles James Sharp
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