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ID please - White-cheeked Starling (Rufous plumage ?)

ID please - White-cheeked Starling (Rufous plumage ?)

I saw two white-cheeked starlings among a flock with rufous cheek and rump instead of white.  Is the rufous colour part of the breeding plumage?  They were found in Long Valley on 25.3.2011.





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Definitely not breeding plumage.
It was told that starlings are stained with color artificially prior to release in mainland China.

Gary

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for what reasons???

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Interesting. I also saw presumably the same two birds at San Tin a few days ago.
I have seen oddly-coloured White-shouldered and Red-billed Starlings previously, but not White-cheeked. I have always been interested about the strange colour, so I am very interested in Gary's report that birds are stained with colour in China

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