Rosy Starling

Rosy Starling (Pastor roseus) is a striking starling whose breeding adult has a glossy black head, crest, wings and tail contrasting with a rose-pink body. Body shape, bill structure, plumage pattern and voice provide the strongest field characters. Age, sex and season may alter its appearance, so identification should combine several features and careful direct field comparisons with similar species in the same habitat (Wikipedia, general species account).

It breeds in colonies across steppe and agricultural country, often following outbreaks of grasshoppers and other insects, then migrates south in flocks and supplements its diet with fruit. Its movements and social behaviour vary through the year, with breeding birds generally more dispersed and non-breeding birds gathering where food is concentrated. The Korean vertebrate catalogue used for this guide records the species in South Korea (Wikipedia, general species account; Wildlife of Korea occurrence records).