Its head has a long hanging crest at the back, the neck from the front to the chest, and the back to the beginning of the neck are black, with a dark purple sheen. The wings, tail, upper and lower coverts of the tail, along with the lower part of the thigh, are black with a steel green sheen. All other plumage is pink. The beak is pink-red, and the legs are pinkish-brown.
In behavior, it undoubtedly resembles our common starling in many ways, but it differs significantly in many aspects. Pink starlings only occasionally emit a quiet call "suit" or "hurbi" and are not as diligent in their singing as our common starlings.
Pink starlings nest in Southeastern Europe, Southwestern Siberia, Central and Western Asia. They are migratory birds, wintering in the south of Western Asia, in Pakistan, India, and Ceylon. From their wintering grounds back to their homeland, these birds move in large flocks, gathering at resting and roosting sites so that they sit almost pressed against each other. They arrive at their nesting sites in April and settle in large flocks, often several hundred pairs in a colony. The nest is usually placed in crevices of rocks and cliffs, between stones, in expanded burrows of bank swallows, and sometimes under the roofs of houses. One of the necessary conditions for the settlement of the pink starling is proximity to steppes or semi-desert and desert plains, where the birds search for food. The nest itself consists of a thin layer of dry plant stems, on which a few leaves of wormwood and feathers from steppe birds are laid. In May, eggs can already be found in the nests of pink starlings. A complete clutch contains from 4 to 7 pale gray eggs. The nesting period is short: five weeks after laying the first eggs, well-flying young birds can already be seen.
Soon after the fledging of the chicks, the starlings unite into large flocks, which gradually move away from the nesting colony in search of food.
When catching locusts, the starling tears off the wings and legs, and then, striking it against the ground and helping itself with its beak, breaks it into pieces, which it then swallows. When locusts are abundant, starlings do not so much eat the insects as leave many killed and maimed. Although pink starlings can appear where there are no locusts, the entire biology of these birds is adapted to live off these insects. Moreover, pink starlings are only found where gregarious species of locusts are abundant. When there are no locusts or other orthopterans, pink starlings eat beetles, butterflies, spiders, ants, and in summer and autumn, berries and juicy fruits (cherries, mulberries, grapes, etc.), as well as seeds of weeds. An adult starling can eat up to 200 locusts of various ages in a day. This daily food intake weighs about 200 g, which is 2.5 times more than the weight of the bird itself. They feed locusts to their chicks in equally enormous quantities: feeding begins before sunrise and ends only in the evening twilight; in an hour, adult birds return to the nest 5-6 times (together), each time bringing 3 insects. By destroying locusts—one of the most dangerous pests of agriculture—the pink starling provides invaluable service to humans.
However, the fledged chicks devastate gardens, especially mulberry plantations and vineyards.
It is widespread across the plains and mid-mountains of Kyrgyzstan.
