Coleto

The Coleto is one of the most instantly recognizable birds in the Philippines, and one of the strangest looking members of the starling family. A broad mask of bare, wrinkled pink skin covers most of its face, split down the middle by a thin line of black bristly feathers, so the bird looks as though it is wearing a rubbery mask. The rest of the plumage is soft silvery grey on the head and breast, deepening to glossy black across the wings, tail, and vent. There is nothing else quite like it anywhere in the archipelago.

It is the only species in its genus, Sarcops, and it is endemic to the Philippines, found on nearly all the major islands. Coletos are lively, sociable birds that travel through the forest canopy in pairs and noisy little parties, chattering constantly as they hunt for fruit. Unlike many Philippine forest specialists, the Coleto has proved adaptable: it readily uses forest edge, secondary growth, plantations, and even wooded gardens, which is a large part of why it remains common while more sensitive endemics have declined. For visiting birders it is often one of the first spectacular endemics they tick, sometimes right from a lodge veranda.

An adult Coleto is essentially unmistakable. No other Philippine bird combines a large bald patch of pink facial skin with a silvery-grey body and contrasting black wings and tail. The face alone rules out every lookalike. Even when a bird is silhouetted high in a fruiting tree, the pale grey breast set against the dark wings and the upright, alert starling posture give it away. In flight the two-tone effect of a pale body and blackish flight feathers is obvious.

Male vs. female

Male and female Coletos look essentially identical in the field. Both sexes share the same bare pink face, silvery-grey head and breast, and black wings and tail, and there is no reliable plumage difference that lets an observer sex a lone bird. This is typical of many starlings, where the sexes are closely matched and pair members are told apart mainly by behavior during courtship and nesting rather than by appearance.

Juveniles

Young Coletos are duller and less contrasting than adults. The bare facial skin is smaller and less vivid, and the face carries more feathering, so juveniles lack the striking naked look of a full adult. Overall the plumage is a sootier, more uniform grey without the clean silvery tones and crisp black of an adult. As the bird matures the facial feathers recede and the pink skin expands and brightens into the classic bald-faced appearance.

The Coleto is a noisy, chattery starling with a varied jumble of whistles, squeaks, harsh grating notes, and liquid gurgles. Foraging parties keep up an almost constant running conversation, and the sound of a group moving through fruiting trees often reveals the birds before they are seen. Like other starlings, Coletos improvise freely, stringing together mixed phrases rather than repeating a fixed, structured song.

There is no single well-defined territorial song. Instead the impression is of a lively, unmusical medley: sharp chack and squealing notes, wheezy rising whistles, and scratchy chatter, sometimes interrupted by more melodic phrases. The overall effect is unmistakably starling-like, energetic and slightly discordant, and it carries well through the canopy.

The Coleto is endemic to the Philippines and occurs on most of the larger islands, including Luzon, Mindanao, the Visayas, Mindoro, and many smaller islands across the archipelago. Several subspecies are recognized across this range, differing subtly in size and the extent of bare facial skin. It is largely absent only from the Sulu chain and Palawan, which have a more Bornean bird fauna.

Habitat use is broad by Philippine standards. Coletos occupy tropical lowland and lower montane forest, but they are equally at home in forest edge, secondary growth, selectively logged areas, plantations, and wooded farmland and gardens, from the lowlands up into the hills. This flexibility is the key to the species holding on: where strict forest interior birds vanish as habitat is cleared, the Coleto persists in the mosaic of edge and cultivated land that replaces it. It is generally resident and non-migratory, with only local movements tracking fruiting trees.

The Coleto is an omnivore with a strong bias toward fruit. Figs and other soft fruits and berries make up the bulk of the diet, and the species is an important disperser of forest tree seeds as it moves between fruiting crowns. This fruit is supplemented by insects and other invertebrates, and by nectar taken from flowering trees, which the birds visit both for the nectar itself and for the insects the blossoms attract.

Coletos feed mostly in the canopy and subcanopy of fruiting trees, foraging actively and acrobatically among the branches. They are gregarious at food, gathering in numbers at a heavily laden tree and mixing readily with other frugivores such as hanging-parrots, bulbuls, and other starlings. Their willingness to exploit fruiting trees in plantations and gardens brings them into close contact with people.

Coletos are cavity nesters. They typically use natural tree hollows and old woodpecker holes, often fairly high in large trees, and readily reuse suitable cavities. The clutch is usually two or three eggs. Breeding tends to be timed to periods of good fruit availability, which provides the abundant food the growing chicks need.

As in many cavity-nesting starlings, both members of the pair are involved in tending the nest and feeding the young, and Coletos are often seen shuttling to and from a hole in loose association with other pairs. Details of incubation and fledging periods are less thoroughly documented than for temperate starlings, reflecting how little formal breeding study this common tropical endemic has received.

The Coleto is not a bird you attract to a backyard unless you happen to live within its Philippine range, but it is one of the easier spectacular endemics to find on a visit. It is common, conspicuous, noisy, and tolerant of edge habitat, so seeing one is usually a matter of getting to the right islands and watching fruiting trees.

• Visit well-known Philippine birding sites such as Subic Bay and the PICOP forests near Bislig, or Mount Kitanglad and Rajah Sikatuna on Bohol, where Coletos are regularly seen.
• Watch fruiting figs and other canopy fruit trees, which draw foraging parties and are the single most reliable way to connect with the species.
• Scan forest edge, clearings, and roadside trees rather than deep interior forest; Coletos favor edges and semi-open wooded country.
• Listen for their constant chattering calls, which usually reveal a moving group before you spot the birds.
• Look in lowland to lower montane elevations, from near sea level up into the hills, where the species is most numerous.
• Bird in the early morning, when Coletos are most active and vocal as they move to feed.

• Asian Glossy Starling: Also found in the Philippines but glossy black-green with staring red eyes and a fully feathered face, lacking any bare skin
• Common Hill Myna: Another starling relative with bare facial skin, but glossy black with bright yellow wattles rather than a grey body and pink mask
• Common Myna: Brown-bodied starling with only a small yellow eye patch of bare skin rather than a full bald pink face