Somali Starling (Onychognathus blythii) - BirdLife species factsheet

Somali Starling Onychognathus blythii

Current view: Data table and detailed info

Taxonomy

Taxonomic source(s)
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A., Fishpool, L.D.C., Boesman, P. and Kirwan, G.M. 2016. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 2: Passerines. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

IUCN Red List criteria met and history

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2024	Least Concern
2016	Least Concern
2012	Least Concern
2009	Least Concern
2008	Least Concern
2004	Least Concern
2000	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1994	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988	Lower Risk/Least Concern

Species attributes

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	does not normally occur in forest
Land-mass type	continent	Average mass	-

Range

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	1,030,000 km²
Severely fragmented?	no	-

Population

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	unknown	-	-	-
Population trend	stable	-	suspected	-
Generation length	3.75 years	-	-	-

Population justification: The global population size has not been quantified, but the species is described as common on the Horn of Africa and Socotra island (Fry and Keith 2000). The population is suspected to be stable in the absence of evidence for any declines or substantial threats.

Trend justification: The population is suspected to be stable in the absence of evidence for any declines or substantial threats.

Country/territory distribution

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident
Djibouti	extant	native	yes
Eritrea	extant	native	yes
Ethiopia	extant	native	yes
Somalia	extant	native	yes
Yemen	extant	native	yes

Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Djibouti	Forêt de Day
Djibouti	Mabla
Eritrea	Asmara escarpment
Eritrea	Danakil lowlands
Eritrea	Ghinda
Eritrea	Mareb escarpment
Eritrea	Semenawi Bahri
Ethiopia	Awash National Park
Somalia	Daalo
Somalia	Gacan Libaax
Somalia	Lascaanod - Taleex - Ceel Chebet
Somalia	Raas Xaafuun - Raas Gumbax

Habitats & altitude

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Grassland	Subtropical/Tropical High Altitude	suitable	resident
Rocky areas (eg. inland cliffs, mountain peaks)		suitable	resident
Shrubland	Subtropical/Tropical High Altitude	suitable	resident
Altitude	1000 - 3800 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Somali Starling Onychognathus blythii. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/somali-starling-onychognathus-blythii on 22/11/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 22/11/2024.