Alternative names: Waller's Chestnut-winged Starling; Waller's Red-winged Starling
Photo by nkgray
Castle Forest, Kimunye, Kenya, October 2012
Photographer's note: not a very obvious dark red eye, however, Waller's is the only red-winged starling with a square-tipped short tail (ruling out Slender-billed and Red-winged) and non-pale eye occurring on Mount Kenya
- Onychognathus walleri
Identification
20cm. A relatively small dark starling with a short tail.
- Blue-black plumage with some green gloss on nape and ear-coverts, underparts dull blue-black
- Reddish-brown primaries
- Deep red eye
- Black bill and legs
Females have an ash-grey head and breast, nape streaked metallic green. Juveniles like males but without gloss and with brown eye.
Similar species
Differs from other Red-winged Starlings by smaller size and short, round-ended tail.
Distribution
Mountains of western Cameroon and adjascent Nigeria, extreme eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi,Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, extreme southern Sudan, Tanzania, northern Malawi, and north-eastern Zambia.
Common in many areas of its range.
Taxonomy
Subspecies
Three subspecies recognized[1]:
- O. w. preussi:
- O. w. elgonensis:
- Southern South Sudan, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, western and eastern (Mt. Elgon) Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and Kenya (west of the Rift Valley)
- O. w. walleri:
Habitat
Canopy and edge of montane forest. Occurs mainly at 1000 - 3000m, down to 200m on Bioko, 300m in east Usambara.
Behaviour
Diet
Feeds on fruit and animal items.
Forages in pairs or small flocks in the forest canopy.
Breeding
A monogamous species. The nest is placed in a tree hole 4 - 20m above the ground. 1 - 3 nestlings recorded.
Presumably a resident species, some local wandering or altitudinal movements recorded.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017, with updates to August 2017. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Del Hoyo, J, A Elliott, and D Christie, eds. 2009. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 14: Bush-shrikes to Old World Sparrows. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8496553507
- Sinclair, I and P Ryan. 2003. Birds of Africa South of the Sahara. Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0691118154
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Waller's Starling. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 10 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Waller%27s_Starling
