Genus Fregilupus

Reunion Starling - The Bourbon Crested Starling was discovered in 1669 and first described 1783 by Dutch naturalist Pieter Boddaert. It got its name from its conspicuous ash grey crest. It reached a size of 30 cm. in length. The wings, which were coloured grey-brown, had wingspan of 4.7 cm. The tail was 11.4 cm long and had a rufous hue. It had long yellow legs with tarsi of about 3.9 cm. The nails were curved. The head, neck, and abdomen were white. There was sexual dimorphism between male and female. The male had a 4 cm long light-yellow coloured bill which was slightly downcurved. The bill of the female was smaller and straight. The crest of the male was directed forwards, the crest of the female backwards. Because of its crest and the form of its bill it was long regarded as relative of the hoopoes by scientists, and its French name Huppe was derived from that. Boddaert named it Hupupa varia when he first described it but naturalist René-Primevère Lesson put it in its own genus Fregilupus in 1831. However, after careful ana