Grosbeak Starling

Open encyclopedia reference

The grosbeak starling (Scissirostrum dubium), also known as the grosbeak myna, finch-billed myna, or scissor-billed starling, is a species of starling in the family Sturnidae. It is monotypic in the genus Scissirostrum. It is endemic to Sulawesi, Indonesia, where its natural habitat is tropical lowland, and sometimes subtropical montane, lightly wooded forest areas and wetlands. It is threatened in the wild by habitat loss, and by birds being captured for the cagebird trade.

This species nests in colonies, which frequently contain hundreds of pairs. Its nests are bored in rotting or dying tree trunks in woodpecker style. It eats fruit, insects, and grain. Grosbeak starlings are highly vocal, at their colonies and in feeding flocks.

The grosbeak starling was first described by the English ornithologist John Latham in 1801 under the binomial name Lanius dubium.

New populations, derived from escaped cagebirds, have been found breeding in Kalimantan in Borneo, and in Java.

Wikipedia contributors, Grosbeak starling; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T06:28:25.765792+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Scissirostrum dubium (Latham, 1801)

Name authority

(Latham, 1801)

Common name

Grosbeak Starling

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Aves

Order

Passeriformes

Family

Sturnidae

Genus

Scissirostrum

Extinction status

Recorded extant

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classAves
9. orderPasseriformes
10. familySturnidae Rafinesque, 1815
11. genusScissirostrum Lafresnaye, 1845
12. speciesScissirostrum dubium (Latham, 1801)

Close classified relatives

No other member of this genus is present in the selected snapshot.

Browse 103 records assigned to Sturnidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=562862 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:4VN6D. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.