[4] These small short-tailed starlings have a long narrow bill, robust bodies, strong feet and a distinctive plumage pattern.

[2] Their spectacular iridescent plumage is due to the arrangement of melanin granules within the feathers, resulting in structural blues and greens, rather than colors derived from pigments.

Almost all their body is a blue-green glossy color; the chin, the throat, the chest, the nape, the mantle, their back, and their uppertail-coverts.

A slender white strip divides the glossy chest from the red-orange abdomen, flanks, and thighs.

By seven months, the bird acquires adult plumage, although the eyes remain dark, and there is yellow coloring at the base of the bill.

The tail has a variable length, and the genus was originally split into short-tailed Lamprocolius and long-tailed Lamprotornis.

They usually have a pattern of hollow, oval, melanin granules in a layer close to the surface of the feather barbules.

[7] This species has a very large range and can commonly be found in East Africa, including Ethiopia, Somalia, Uganda, Kenya, South Sudan, and Tanzania.

[7] Mixed species flocks might aid in obtaining food and serve as a defense mechanism against predators.

[9] When it is the breeding season however, the superb starlings are territorial and chase the birds of other species from the group, especially when they approach their nests.

Some scientists compare their vocalizations to the Common Starling (Sturnus vulgaris), and others to the European Robin (Erithacus rubecula).

[7] In Amboseli National Park in Kenya, vervet monkeys (Cecopithcus aerhiops) have acquired the ability to identify and respond appropriately to the unique alarm calls made by the superb starlings in the presence of aerial and terrestrial predators.

They predominantly rely on insects as their main food source, such as termites (Termitidae), grasshoppers, moth larvae (Lepidoptera), beetles (Carabidae), mantids (Mantidae) and ants.

[10][4][7] Unfortunately, Superb starlings in Tanzania cause harm to grapevines in vineyards, and they also disturb sprouting wheat crops as they dig them up.

[4] Superb starlings have been observed running on the ground, jumping with drooping wing and outstretched heads, indicating what is thought to be a form of nuptial display.

On occasion, they can take over nests belonging to White-headed Buffalo Weavers (Dinemellia dinemelli), sometimes rejecting the existing eggs.

[13] Superb starlings form large social groups in which both breeding parents and 1-14 alloparents contribute to the care of the offspring.