You keep the Drow race's range on Darkvision. The rules say you retain your racial features, but can't use special senses unless your new form also has them:
You retain the benefit of any features from your class, race, or other source and can use them if the new form is physically capable of doing so. However, you can't use any of your Special senses, such as Darkvision, unless your new form also has that sense.
Emphasis mine.
You retain your race's Darkvision, and so you retain Darkvision 120'. If you wild shape into a beast that does not have Darkvision, you can't use your Special Sense but you have still retained it. If you wild shape into a beast that does have Darkvision, though, then you can use it. And since you retained the feature from your race, you use your race-granted version of it, which has the longer range.
Yes if you are a parrot. No if you are a slug.
I'm using 'druid' here as shorthand for 'Circle of the Shepherd Druid'
Your ability to speak is
limited to the capabilities of your beast form
The 'capabilities of your beast form' are the limitations of its body, and not the limitations of its mind. We know this because when you take on the form,
you retain your [...] Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores.
source
This begs the question: Which beasts are physically capable of speech? Some beasts, such as a slug, are obviously not. Giant eagles, on the other hand, can speak giant eagle. This means that their ability to vocalise is sufficient for communicating complex ideas.
Parrots are another helpful example. A parrot is physically capable of mimicking human vocalisations, but doesn't actually speak common and wouldn't have this language listed in its stat block. Druids in parrot-form can speak common (or any other language), because their parrot-bodies are physically capable of producing the sounds required and their druid-minds are capable of constructing thoughts like 'what is the nature of beauty?'
What Constitutes Speech?
Your ruling as DM will depend on how you interpret the meaning of 'speech': either as a discrete category (this beast CAN/CANNOT vocalise speech) or as a conceptual continuum (this creature is MORE/LESS ABLE to vocalise complex patterns)
Speech as a discrete category
Speech implies abstract communication and complex thought. My cat makes little noises with different meanings, but her rudimentary voice box will not allow for 'speech' in the same way that a parrot's would. A cat-druid is incapable of 'speech', and so any dog she spoke to would be incapable of understanding her. A parrot-druid would have no such trouble. If a dog-druid were talking to a dog, I would say that 'understanding noises and motions' grants an ability to emulate them, which implies that a dog-druid could say anything to a dog that one normal dog could say to another - little dog concepts like 'GO AWAY I DO NOT LIKE YOU' or 'WOW LOOK AT THIS'.
Speech as a contiuum
Alternatively, you might thing of 'speech' as any articulation of concepts through vocalisation - ie. my cat can speak, just not very articulately. In this case, the DM would have to make a ruling on maximum-speech-complexity based on physical vocalisation limitations of the chosen form. I.e no speech for slug, basic concepts for cats/dogs, human-equivalent complexity for parrots. In contrast to the above ruling, this would mean that all animals could understand the concepts communicated, even though a slug, for instance, could not normally understand a cat.
Conclusion
- A wildshaped druid's ability to speak is limited by the chosen form's physical capacity for complex vocalisation. One possible ruling is that a creature can or cannot speak, with nothing in between, but an alterative ruling is that vocalisation-capability moderates the maximum complexity of communicated concepts.
- If a wildshaped druid can speak, then their speech can be understood by all beasts.
- If a wildshaped druid cannot speak, they can still communicate with other animals as any other animal might, because they 'understand' the 'noises and motions' of animals.
Best Answer
The intent seems to be for Starry Form to be used instead of Wildshape, not in addition to, but check with the DM.
As this answer to a related question points out, Wildshape states:
So you can use the Starry Form feature while in a Wildshape since there is no indication that any given form is incapable of shifting into the Starry Form. That is, the rules don't say the Druid needs to make some sort of gesticulation or articulation to make the change into Starry Form.
The wording of the UA Druid circle can be interpreted in one of two ways:
In the second interpretation, the "rather than" clause simply indicates that, instead of shifting from one beast form to another, the Druid could choose to shift into a starry version of their current form (whatever that is).
For the most part, the Starry form's benefits are geared towards casters (suggesting it is at least intended for the druid's humanoid form) but it does offer one big advantage for a Wildshaped Druid at level 10:
At level 10, under the second interpretation, a Druid would be able to become a Starry Giant Hyena with 45HP and resistance to mundane damage. That may or may not be considered unbalancing and the Druid player should check with the DM.
It's also worth pointing out that using the second interpretation raises another issue: what happens when the Wildshape form's HP are reduced to zero before the Starry Form's duration has elapsed?
In this situation, does the Druid become a Starry "normal" form or does the Starry Form end along with the Wildshape? The rules talk about "this form" but referring to a single form is problematic when the form is forced to change in this way.
It simplifies things considerably if we use the first interpretation but, again, I'd advise checking with the DM.