Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

THE FIRST RECORD OF ASIAN PIED STARLING GRACUPICA CONTRA LINNAEUS, 1758 (AVES, STURNIDAE) IN IRAQ

Salwan Ali Abed and Mudhafar A. Salim

Abstract

The present research highlighted the first observation of the Pied Starling Gracupica contra in the wild in Iraq. Few previous observations of some birds in the cages were made in different places within southern Iraq during 2007-2018. The researchers think that the birds that were seen in the wild were escaping from cages from nearby areas. After the first recording the Common Myna for Iraq at 1997 in Basra (which is the closest bird species for the pied Starling), the later species took in expanding its breeding range to reach as northerly as Middle Euphrates and Baghdad Date-palm orchards. It is expected that the pied Starling will take the same route, however in fewer numbers and smaller range, and this requires decades until establishing its breeding range, then, it might be one of the alien/invasive species in Iraq in the future.