About Aplonis panayensis (Scopoli, 1786)
The Asian glossy starling, scientifically named Aplonis panayensis, is a species of starling belonging to the family Sturnidae. It is native to Bangladesh, Brunei, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Cambodia and Thailand, and has been introduced to Taiwan. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical mangrove forest. Large populations of this species also inhabit towns and cities, where they shelter in abandoned buildings and trees. They often travel in large flocks and are considered one of the noisiest bird species. In the Philippines, this species is called kulansiyang, galansiyang, or kuling-dagat. The International Ornithological Congress recognises the following subspecies: A. p. affinis (Blyth, 1876), found in northeastern India, Bangladesh, and southwestern Myanmar; A. p. tytleri (Hume, 1873), found in the Andaman and north Nicobar Islands; A. p. albiris Abdulali, 1967, found in the central and southern Nicobar Islands; A. p. strigata (Horsfield, 1821), found in the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Java, and west Borneo; A. p. altirostris (Salvadori, 1887), found in Simeulue, Banyak Islands, and Nias Island; A. p. nesodramus (Oberholser, 1926), found on Babi Island; A. p. pachistorhina (Oberholser, 1912), found in the Batu and Mentawai Islands; A. p. enganensis (Salvadori, 1892), found in the Enggano Islands; A. p. heterochlora (Oberholser, 1917), found in the Anambas and Natuna Islands; A. p. eustathis (Oberholser, 1926), found in east Borneo; A. p. alipodis (Oberholser, 1926), found on Panjang, Maratua and Derawan Islands; A. p. gusti Stresemann, 1913, found on Bali; A. p. sanghirensis (Salvadori, 1876), found in the Sangihe and Talaud Islands; and A. p. panayensis (Scopoli, 1786), found in north Sulawesi and the Philippines.
