I finally broke down and bought Starlings and Mynas by Chris Feare and Adrian Craig, which marks me off as (a) a giant dork and (b) somewhat obsessed with my job. In defense of my purchase/preoccupation, starlings seem to have inspired some pretty awesome names, like:

Superb Starling
Shining Starling
Singing Starling
Splendid Glossy Starling
White-winged Babbling Starling

and my personal favorite, Mysterious Starling. Who is sadly extinct. Sad, in part because a grant for studying the Mysterious Starling would pretty much write itself.

Maybe Sadie will bring me a Superb Starling the next time she's in Uganda.