Rosy Starling

The Rosy Starling is a medium-sized starling, 19–22 centimetres long and weighing 60–88 grams. In breeding plumage an adult has a striking pink body contrasting with a glossy black head, wings, and tail. Its legs are pinkish to pale orange, and the bill is black-based with a bright pink tip. Breeding males carry a long wispy crest; females have shorter crests and softer colour boundaries. Winter adults are duller grey-pink, while juveniles are pale buff-brown with short yellow bills. (Wikipedia, Rosy Starling account)

Rosy Starlings breed in steppe, semi-desert, desert, and open farmland from southeast Europe across Central Asia to northwestern Mongolia, then migrate strongly to winter in India. They are intensely social, travelling and feeding in noisy flocks and nesting in tight colonies. Breeding is timed to the brief May–June abundance of grasshoppers. The diet is omnivorous but strongly insect-focused, particularly on locusts and grasshoppers; flocks also visit flowering trees, cereal fields, and orchards when those foods are available. (Wikipedia, Rosy Starling account)