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[Hong Kong] Is it a starling?

Is it a starling?

LV, 6Nov15.

The one on the right is White-cheeked Starling, but no idea for the one on the left. The size seems the same as White-cheeked and came and left together. But can't imagine they are related. Pls advise.

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6/11/2015 16:11

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Silky Starling
I am just an inexperienced birder/ birdwatcher/ twitcher/ photographer with no long lens.

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The bird on the left has been captured, dyed and then released back to the wild.  These dyed birds are seen fairly often.

Dylan

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Thanks. But why? What kind of benefit they got to do it?

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It's a religious thing...people probably like to have more colourful birds for release.
As The Crow Flies- a Hong Kong Birding Blog
http://www.matthewkwanbirding.blogspot.hk

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There is a short paper on this phenomenon in BirdingAsia (bulletin of the Oriental Bird Club) Number 22, December 2014 by local birders Dave Stanton & Michael Leven.

The main conclusion seems to be that starlings are dyed by bird-traders to make the birds more colourful and therefore more attractive to buyers.

David

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Thanks for the information. Can't imagine how they can dye the bird so thoroughly. But money makes anything possible

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