Brahminy Starling

Brahminy Starling

Sturnia pagodarum

Silhouette: Rafael Maia · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
at Vasai-Virar

In 3 days ~10%

33 Verified sightings at Vasai-Virar
6,703 In all 15 parks From 2019 to 2026
December Best month
🌅 Crepuscular When it's spotted

About the Brahminy Starling

The brahminy starling or brahminy myna (Sturnia pagodarum) is a member of the starling family of birds. It is usually seen in pairs or small flocks in open habitats on the plains of the Indian subcontinent. The brahminy starling was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with the thrushes in the genus Turdus and coined the binomial name Turdus pagodarum. The specific epithet pagodarum is Modern Latin meaning "of the temples" or "of the pagodas". Gmelin based his account on the "Le Martin Brame" that had been described in 1782 by the French naturalist Pierre Sonnerat in his book Voyage aux Indes orientales et à la Chine. Sonnerat mentioned that the bird was found on the Malabar and Coromandel Coasts of India.

The brahminy starling was formerly placed in the genus Sturnus. A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2008 found that the genus was polyphyletic. In the reoganization to create monotypic genera, the brahminy starling was one of five starlings moved to the resurrected genus Sturnia that had been introduced in 1837 by René Lesson. The species... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Song1:26

India · 2025

© Peter Boesman · XC1030908 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Call0:13

India · 2021

© Kousheyo Bagchi · XC709617 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Begging call0:15

India · 2014

© Saikat Adhurya · XC187948 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Keoladeo National Park 🇮🇳 India
~70%
2 Mudumalai National Park 🇮🇳 India
~60%
3 Bandipur National Park 🇮🇳 India
~40%
4 Gir National Park 🇮🇳 India
~40%
5 Ranthambore National Park 🇮🇳 India
~40%
6 Bandhavgarh National Park 🇮🇳 India
~30%
7 Nagarhole National Park 🇮🇳 India
~30%
8 Satpura National Park 🇮🇳 India
~20%
9 Yala National Park 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka
~20%
10 Jim Corbett National Park 🇮🇳 India
~20%
11 Kanha National Park 🇮🇳 India
~10%
12 Royal Bardia National Park 🇳🇵 Nepal
~10%
13 Chitwan National Park 🇳🇵 Nepal
<5%
14 Udawalawe National Park 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka
<5%
15 Sundarbans National Park 🇮🇳 India
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Solapur 🇮🇳 India
~60%
2 Jaipur 🇮🇳 India
~40%
3 Indore 🇮🇳 India
~40%
4 Asansol 🇮🇳 India
~40%
5 Gwalior 🇮🇳 India
~30%
6 Nagpur 🇮🇳 India
~30%
7 Kota 🇮🇳 India
~30%
8 Nashik 🇮🇳 India
~30%
9 Bhopal 🇮🇳 India
~30%
10 Raipur 🇮🇳 India
~30%

Zoos & Centres Where Found

# Zoo / Centre Country
1 Walsrode World Bird Park 🇩🇪 Germany In captivity
2 Nehru Zoological Park 🇮🇳 India In captivity
3 Chester Zoo 🇬🇧 United Kingdom In captivity
4 Bird Paradise 🇸🇬 Singapore In captivity
5 Rainforest Wild Asia 🇸🇬 Singapore In captivity
6 Santillana Zoo 🇪🇸 Spain In captivity
7 Volière 🇨🇭 Switzerland In captivity

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Brahminy Starling in Vasai-Virar?

Rare

Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Brahminy Starling sighting in Vasai-Virar on a given day, based on 33 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 163rd most-seen of the 217 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Brahminy Starling in Vasai-Virar?

December

In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Brahminy Starling in Vasai-Virar on a given day, against under 5% in January to November, the lowest months. That is one of Vasai-Virar's driest months, with almost no rain against 840 mm in July.

What time of day is best to see a Brahminy Starling?

Between 3 and 6 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Brahminy Starling sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is most active around dawn and dusk.

Is Vasai-Virar the best place to see a Brahminy Starling?

48th of 58

Of the 58 cities where we can rate Brahminy Starling sightings, Vasai-Virar ranks 48th at under 5%. The best odds are in Solapur (India, about 60%), Jaipur (India, about 40%) and Indore (India, about 40%).

Where does the Brahminy Starling sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Brahminy Starling is recorded against all the birds logged in Vasai-Virar (33 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.

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