▁given ▁rise ▁to ▁the ▁w att led ▁star ling ▁( Cre at op hora ▁cin erea ) ▁and ▁the ▁Mas car ene ▁star lings . ▁According ▁to ▁Am ad on , ▁the ▁Rod rig ues ▁and ▁ho op oe ▁star lings ▁were ▁related ▁to ▁A si atic ▁star lings , ▁such ▁as ▁some ▁species ▁of ▁St urn us , ▁rather ▁than ▁the ▁gl oss y ▁star lings ▁( L am pro t orn is ) ▁of ▁Africa ▁and ▁the ▁Mad agas can ▁star ling ▁( S ar og loss a ▁aur ata ); ▁he ▁concluded ▁this ▁based ▁on ▁the ▁colour ation ▁of ▁the ▁birds . ▁A ▁ 2 0 0 8 ▁study , ▁which ▁anal ys ed ▁the ▁DNA ▁of ▁various ▁star lings , ▁confirmed ▁that ▁the ▁ho op oe ▁star ling ▁was ▁a ▁star ling , ▁but ▁with ▁no ▁close ▁relatives ▁among ▁the ▁sample d ▁species . ▁ ▁Ext ant ▁East ▁Asian ▁star lings , ▁such ▁as ▁the ▁B ali ▁my na ▁( Le uc ops ar ▁ro th sch ild i ) ▁and ▁the ▁white - head ed ▁star ling ▁( S turn ia ▁er yth rop yg ia ), ▁have ▁similar ities ▁with ▁these ▁ext inct ▁species ▁in ▁colour ation ▁and ▁other ▁features . ▁As ▁the ▁Rod rig ues ▁and ▁Maur it ius ▁star lings ▁seem ▁to ▁be ▁more ▁closely ▁related ▁to ▁each ▁other ▁than ▁to ▁the ▁ho op oe ▁star ling , ▁which ▁appears ▁to ▁be ▁closer ▁to ▁S out heast ▁Asian ▁star lings , ▁there ▁may ▁have ▁been