NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Waller's Starling
Onychognathus walleri (Shelley, 1880)
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.
Open encyclopedia reference
Waller's starling (Onychognathus walleri) is a species of starling in the family Sturnidae.
It is native to the Western High Plateau and Bioko, the Albertine Rift montane forests, the East African montane forests and the Eastern Arc forests.
The common name and scientific name commemorates the English naturalist Gerald Waller.
Wikipedia contributors, Waller's starling; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T06:36:57.688750+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Onychognathus walleri (Shelley, 1880)
- Name authority
- (Shelley, 1880)
- Common name
- Waller's 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 walleri (Shelley, 1880)
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Socotra StarlingOnychognathus frater (P. L. Sclater & Hartlaub, 1881) | SturnidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| 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 |
| 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 walleri Shelley, 1880 Shelley, 1880 | 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=561676 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. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
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:49R8M. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.