A new record of Red-cheeked Starling on Bali

While birding on Serangan (Turtle Island), Bali, on 26th February 2016, I observed a flock of six to ten Red-cheeked Starlings (Agropsar philippensis). The weather was overcast, providing a white diffuse light, and on first sighting the birds were only determined as starlings. Being unfamiliar with many of the Indonesian species, I went for photo-documentation. The birds were restless and difficult to approach, and I only succeeded in photographing one pair, as the others immediately flew away.

The species was determined by comparing my photos with those on orientalbirdimages.org, and by consulting MacKinnon and Phillipps (1993) and contributors to Flickr. According to the field guide, the Red-cheeked Starling is an uncommon winter visitor to northern Borneo and, more rarely, south to Kalimantan. According to HBW Alive (Craig & Feare 2017) North Borneo is the southernmost extent of the habitual range, although vagrants have occurred as far south as Singapore, northern Sulawesi and the northern Moluccas. However, there is at least a previous record for Bali: a flock of 80 observed near Gilimanuk Gas Power Plant on 14 November 2014 (Kusumanegara & Iqbal 2015).

References

Craig, A. & Feare, C. (2017). Red-cheeked Starling (Agropsar philippensis). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.

Kusumanegara, H. & Iqbal, M. (2015). A southernmost record of chestnut-cheeked starling, Agropsar phillippensis, in Bali, Indonesia. Journal of Indonesian Natural History 3(2): 44–46.

MacKinnon, J.R. & Phillipps, K. (1993). A Field Guide to the Birds of Borneo, Sumatra, Java, and Bali. Oxford University Press, Oxford, New York & Tokyo.