the cape starling , red-shouldered glossy-starling or cape glossy starling (lamprotornis nitens) is a species of starling in the family sturnidae .
it is found in southern africa , where it lives in woodlands , bushveld and in suburbs .
the cape starling has an adult length of about 25 cm (10 in) and weight of about 100 grams (3.5 oz) .
the plumage is a fairly uniform bright , glossy colour .
the head is blue with darker ear coverts and the upper parts of the body are greenish-blue .
it has a lengthy warbling song which may include an imitation of sounds it hears in its environment .
the cape starling is found in the southern part of africa .
its range encompasses the extreme south of gabon , the west and south of angola , the extreme south of zambia , the southern half of zimbabwe , namibia , botswana , lesotho and south africa .
it is a vagrant to the republic of the congo but does not breed there .
in the other countries in its range it is a resident (non-migratory) species and its total extent of occurrence is about 3,000,000 square kilometres (1,200,000 sq mi) .
the cape starling is found where trees in which it can roost and nest are found .
it is not a bird of dense forest or of pasture and is not associated with any particular plant type .
it does occur in open woodland , plantations , savannah , bushveld , rough grassland , parks and gardens and is quite numerous in the central kalahari where isolated trees occur .
the cape starling is a gregarious bird and forms large flocks in the non-breeding season .
it usually feeds on the ground often foraging alongside other species of starlings such as the pied starling , the common starling , the greater blue-eared starling , the lesser blue-eared starling , the wattled starling and burchell's starling .
it is habituated to humans and its diet includes fruit , insects and nectar .
it sometimes feeds on ectoparasites that it picks off the backs of animals and it sometimes visits bird tables for scraps .
breeding mainly takes place between october and february but may continue into april in namibia .
it nests in crevices such as holes in trees and out-competes other birds seeking to use these holes .
it is a host to the greater honeyguide , a brood parasite that lays its eggs in other birds' nests .
in an observed nest in a thorn tree at the edge of the kalahari , the chicks were fed predominantly on grasshoppers , locusts , ants and beetles , and were also given fruit , insect larvae and other small invertebrates .
