Socotra Starling

SCI Name:  Onychognathus frater
Protonym:  Amydrus frater Proc.Zool.Soc.London Pt1 p.171
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Sturnidae / Onychognathus
Taxonomy Code:  socsta1
Type Locality:  Socotra.
Author:  Sclater & Hartlaub
Publish Year:  1881
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

ONYCHOGNATHUS
(Sturnidae; Ϯ Chestnut-winged Starling O. fulgidus) Gr. ονυξ onux, ονυχος onukhos  claw, nail; γναθος gnathos  jaw; "1. Onychognathus, Nob., n. gen.  Familia Sturnidæ, subfam.— Ptilonorhynchinæ, Gray.   Char. gen. rostrum (pl. 14, fig. 2). Capite longius, compressum, grypanium, aduncum, culmine arcuato, basi applanato-rotundato; apice acuto elongato uncinato.  Cauda valde gradata, elongata; rectrices angustæ debiles, apice rotundatæ.  Alæ mediocres, remige prima spuria; tertia, quarta et quinta cæteris longioribus, æqualibus; remiges tertiariæ (pl. 14, f. 3) et tectrices alæ majores structuram exhibent valde extraordinariam; pogonium externum fascia longitudinali holosericea in duo quasi dimidia dispertitur, quorum unum superius (sæpo proximum) ordinarium, alterum inferius decompositum, laxum, quasi fimbriatum dependet.  Pedes robusti, breves, digito interno et externo æqualibus; unguibus mediocribus, validis.   O. fulgidus, Nob.   ...   Habitat: île Saint-Thomé, golfe de Guinée." (Hartlaub 1849); "Onychognathus Hartlaub, 1849, Rev. Mag. Zool. (Paris), p. 494. Type, by monotypy, Onychognathus fulgidus Hartlaub." (Amadon in Peters 1962, XV, 87).   
Var. Onychoramphus (Gr. ραμφος rhamphos  bill), Onychorhamphus, Onicognathus, Onycognathus, Onychognatus.   
Synon. Amydrus, Cinnamopterus, Galeopsar, Hagiopsar, Nabouroupus, Oligomydrus, Pilorhinus, Ptilonorhynchus, Pyrrhocheira.

frater
L. frater  brother (i.e. closely related).
● "CRINIGER FRATER, sp. n.  ♂ ad. affinis C. gutturali, sed pectore ochrascenti-flavo et subcaudalibus ochrascentibus distinguendus ... This new species is very closely allied to two others, viz. C. gutturalis and C. gularis, all of them having brown heads and olive-green backs" (Sharpe 1877) (Alophoixus).
● "The difference in color appears very slight.  I attach more importance to the discrepancies in size and proportions.  If the Pacific bird be really distinct from the American, it has probably yet to receive a name; for it is very different from the various species of Anous mostly described by Mr. Gould.  In that event, it may be called a ANOUS FRATER." (Coues 1862) (syn. Anous stolidus pileatus).
● "Schließt als dritte Form an C. rufopileata und soror sich an.  ...  Durch die allerdings nur undeutliche Fleckung des Rückens nähert sich die Art der C. chiniana." (Reichenow 1916) (subsp. Cisticola chiniana). 
● "Species H. rufo-marginato maxime affinis, sed interscapulio non nigro et remigum colore castaneo saturatiore satis diversa" (P. Sclater & Salvin 1880) (subsp. Herpsilochmus scapularis).
● “Species assimilis M. carinatae [= Monarcha melanopsis] ex Australia et ejusdem formae, sed facie angustiore nigra et ventre saturatiore castaneo diversa” (P. Sclater, 1874) (Monarcha).
● “The occurrence of two typical species of Amydrus [i.e. Onychognathus frater and Onychognathus blythii] in so small an island as Socotra is very curious; but there seems to be no doubt about the fact” (P. Sclater & Hartlaub, 1881) (Onychognathus).
● "Similar to T. solstitialis, but differs in the eyebrow and eyelid being white instead of rufous or buff, and in the whiter axillaries and under wing-coverts.  ... The White-browed House-Wren replaces the foregoing species [T. solstitialis] in Bolivia" (Sharpe 1881) (subsp. Troglodytes solstitialis).