Tristram's Starling (Onychognathus tristramii)
About the Tristram's Starling
Tristram's starling (Onychognathus tristramii), also known as Dead Sea starling or Tristram's grackle, is a species of starling native to the Middle East. It is the only member of the genus Onychognathus found mainly outside of Africa. The species is named after Reverend Henry Baker Tristram, who collected natural history specimens. This bird is found in deserts in Israel, Palestine, Jordan, northeastern Egypt (Sinai Peninsula), (NEOM) ([Magna]), western Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Oman, nesting mainly on rocky cliff faces. The species is becoming increasingly commensal with humans, feeding in towns and villages; this has enabled a recent northward spread in its distribution.
No audio on this page yet
We only publish recordings we may use commercially, because this site is supported by ads. xeno-canto lists 40 recordings for this species: 14 CC BY-NC-SA · 1 CC BY-NC-ND. None of them permits commercial use, so there is no player here — the page is kept as a profile so the bird is not missing from the guide.
As soon as someone uploads a freely licensed recording, we mirror it and the player appears here.
Listed as recorded in Israel, Saudi Arabia in the xeno-canto catalogue.
Related species you can hear
- Red-winged StarlingOnychognathus moriorecording
- Waller's StarlingOnychognathus wallerirecording
This species has no recording here yet — these relatives do, so you can hear what the family sounds like.