''Onychognathus'' is a genus of

starling Starlings are small to medium-sized passerine (perching) birds known for the often dark, glossy iridescent sheen of their plumage; their complex vocalizations including mimicking; and their distinctive, often elaborate swarming behavior, know ...

s native to the

Afrotropical realm The Afrotropical realm is one of the Earth's eight biogeographic realms. It includes Sub-Saharan Africa, the southern Arabian Peninsula, the island of Madagascar, and the islands of the western Indian Ocean. It was formerly known as the Ethiopi ...

. All the species are quite similar, and characterised by rufous primary wing feathers, very obvious in flight. The males are typically mainly glossy black, and the females have dull (sometimes dark, depending on species) grey heads. The genus was introduced by the German physician and ornithologist

Gustav Hartlaub Karel Johan Gustav Hartlaub (8 November 1814 – 29 November 1900) was a German physician and ornithologist. Hartlaub was born in Bremen, and studied at Bonn and Berlin before graduating in medicine at Göttingen. In 1840, he began to study and ...

in 1849 with the

chestnut-winged starling The chestnut-winged starling (''Onychognathus fulgidus'') is a species of starling Starlings are small to medium-sized passerine (perching) birds known for the often dark, glossy iridescent sheen of their plumage; their complex vocalizations ...

as the

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

. The name ''Onychognathus'' combines the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

words ''onukhos'' "claw" or "nail" and ''gnathos'' "jaw". The genus contains 11 species. *

Red-winged starling The red-winged starling (''Onychognathus morio'') is a bird of the starling family Sturnidae native to eastern and southern Africa from Ethiopia to the Cape in South Africa. An omnivorous, generalist species, it prefers cliffs and mountainous a ...

, ''Onychognathus morio'' *

Slender-billed starling The slender-billed starling (''Onychognathus tenuirostris'') is a species of starling in the family Sturnidae. It is found in Burundi Burundi, officially the Republic of Burundi, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is located in th ...

, ''Onychognathus tenuirostris'' *

Chestnut-winged starling The chestnut-winged starling (''Onychognathus fulgidus'') is a species of starling Starlings are small to medium-sized passerine (perching) birds known for the often dark, glossy iridescent sheen of their plumage; their complex vocalizations ...

, ''Onychognathus fulgidus'' * Waller's starling, ''Onychognathus walleri'' *

Somali starling The Somali starling (''Onychognathus blythii'') is a species of starling in the family Sturnidae. It is found in Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia and Yemen. Habitat In the Degua Tembien district of north Ethiopia Ethiopia, officia ...

, ''Onychognathus blythii'' *

Socotra starling The Socotra starling (''Onychognathus frater'') is a species of starling in the family Sturnidae. It is endemic to Socotra island, which is off the southeast coast of Yemen. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest, subtrop ...

, ''Onychognathus frater'' *

Tristram's starling Tristram's starling (''Onychognathus tristramii''), also known as Dead Sea starling or Tristram's grackle, is a species of starling native to the Middle East. It is the only member of the genus ''Onychognathus'' found mainly outside of Africa.Paz ...

, ''Onychognathus tristramii'' *

Pale-winged starling The pale-winged starling (''Onychognathus nabouroup'') is a species of starling in the family Sturnidae. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa. Habitat This starling is found in arid and semi-arid areas in South-western Af ...

, ''Onychognathus nabouroup'' *

Bristle-crowned starling The bristle-crowned starling (''Onychognathus salvadorii'') is a species of starling in the family Sturnidae. It is found in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East ...

, ''Onychognathus salvadorii'' *

White-billed starling The white-billed starling (''Onychognathus albirostris'') is a species of starling in the family Sturnidae. It is found in Eritrea and Ethiopia. Habitat In the Degua Tembien Dogu'a Tembien (, "Upper Tembien", sometimes transliterated as Degu ...

, ''Onychognathus albirostris'' *

Neumann's starling Neumann's starling (''Onychognathus neumanni'') or Neumann's red-winged starling, is a bird native to Africa. This starling breeds on rocky cliffs, outcrops and gorges mainly in the Sahel from Mauritania and Equatorial Guinea to western Sudan. It ...

, ''Onychognathus neumanni''

References

Further reading