NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Socotra Starling
Onychognathus frater (P. L. Sclater & Hartlaub, 1881)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Socotra Island, Yemen
Rod Waddington · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
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, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland, and rural gardens.
The Socotra starling builds its nests in the hollow branches of Socotra's dragon blood tree (Dracaena cinnabari). In addition to feeding on grasshoppers and figs, the bird also eats the berries of the dragon blood tree and helps disperse the tree's seeds.
Wikipedia contributors, Socotra starling; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T05:40:46.940311+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Onychognathus frater (P. L. Sclater & Hartlaub, 1881)
- Name authority
- (P. L. Sclater & Hartlaub, 1881)
- Common name
- Socotra Starling
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Sturnidae
- Genus
- Onychognathus
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familySturnidae Rafinesque, 1815
- genusOnychognathus Hartlaub, 1849
- speciesOnychognathus frater (P. L. Sclater & Hartlaub, 1881)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Onychognathus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Pale-winged StarlingOnychognathus nabouroup (Daudin, 1800) | SturnidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Bristle-crowned StarlingOnychognathus salvadorii (Sharpe, 1891) | SturnidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Tristram's StarlingOnychognathus tristramii (P. L. Sclater, 1858) | SturnidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Waller's StarlingOnychognathus walleri (Shelley, 1880) | SturnidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| White-billed StarlingOnychognathus albirostris (Rüppell, 1836) | SturnidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Chestnut-winged StarlingOnychognathus fulgidus Hartlaub, 1849 | SturnidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Somali StarlingOnychognathus blythii (Hartlaub, 1859) | SturnidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Red-winged StarlingOnychognathus morio (Linnaeus, 1766) | SturnidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Neumann's StarlingOnychognathus neumanni (Alexander, 1908) | SturnidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Slender-billed StarlingOnychognathus tenuirostris (Rüppell, 1836) | SturnidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Amydrus frater P. L. Sclater & Hartlaub, 1881 P. L. Sclater & Hartlaub, 1881 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=561669 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:49R8D. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.