Onychognathus is a genus of starlings native to the Afrotropical realm. 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.
Taxonomy The genus was introduced by the German physician and ornithologist Gustav Hartlaub in 1849 to accommodate a single species, Onychognathus fulgidus Hartlaub, the chestnut-winged starling, which becomes the type species. The name Onychognathus combines the Ancient Greek words onukhos "claw" or "nail" and gnathos "jaw".
The genus contains 11 species.
Red-winged starling, Onychognathus morio – east, southeast, south Africa Slender-billed starling, Onychognathus tenuirostris – east Africa Chestnut-winged starling, Onychognathus fulgidus – west, central Africa Waller's starling, Onychognathus walleri – central west, central, east Africa Somali starling, Onychognathus blythii – Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia and Socotra Socotra starling, Onychognathus frater – Socotra Tristram's starling, Onychognathus tristramii – Arabian Peninsula Pale-winged starling, Onychognathus nabouroup – southwest Angola to south and central South Africa Bristle-crowned starling, Onychognathus salvadorii – central Ethiopia to northeast Uganda, central Kenya and central Somalia White-billed starling, Onychognathus albirostris – montane Eritrea and Ethiopia Neumann's starling, Onychognathus neumanni – central, west Africa
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