Woodswallow
Encyclopedia
Woodswallows are soft-plumaged, somber-coloured passerine
Passerine
A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders: with over 5,000 identified species, it has roughly...

 birds. There is a single genus, Artamus, The woodswallows are either treated as a subfamily, Artaminae in an expanded family Artamidae
Artamidae
The family Artamidae gathers together 20 species of mostly crow-like birds native to Australasia and nearby areas.There are two subfamilies: Artaminae, the woodswallows, are sombre-coloured, soft-plumaged birds that have a brush-tipped tongue but seldom use it for gathering nectar. Instead, they...

, which includes the butcherbird
Butcherbird
Butcherbirds are magpie-like birds in the genus Cracticus. They are native to Australasia. Their closest relatives are the three species of currawong...

s and Australian Magpie
Australian Magpie
The Australian Magpie is a medium-sized black and white passerine bird native to Australia and southern New Guinea. A member of the Artamidae, it is closely related to the butcherbirds...

, or as the only genus in that family. The generic name, which in turn gives rise to the family name, is derived from the Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...

 artamos, meaning butcher or murder. The name was given due to their perceived similarity to shrike
Shrike
Shrikes are passerine birds of the family Laniidae. The family is composed of thirty-one species in three genera. The family name, and that of the largest genus, Lanius, is derived from the Latin word for "butcher", and some shrikes were also known as "butcher birds" because of their feeding habits...

s, indeed a former common name for the group was "swallow-starlings".

The woodswallows have an Australasia
Australasia
Australasia is a region of Oceania comprising Australia, New Zealand, the island of New Guinea, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term was coined by Charles de Brosses in Histoire des navigations aux terres australes...

n distribution, with most species occurring in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 and New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...

. The Ashy Woodswallow
Ashy Woodswallow
The Ashy Woodswallow, Artamus fuscus, is a woodswallow which is found in south Asia.The plumage of this species is pale grey....

 has an exclusively Asian distribution, ranging from India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 and Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...

 through South East Asia to China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

, and the most widespread species is the White-breasted Woodswallow
White-breasted Woodswallow
The White-breasted Woodswallow, Artamus leucorynchus, is a small passerine bird which breeds from the Andaman Islands east through Indonesia and northern Australia. The name "woodswallow" is a misnomer as they are not closely related to true swallows...

, which ranges from Peninsular Malaysia through to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 in the south and Vanuatu
Vanuatu
Vanuatu , officially the Republic of Vanuatu , is an island nation located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is some east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, west of Fiji, and southeast of the Solomon Islands, near New Guinea.Vanuatu was...

 and New Caledonia
New Caledonia
New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...

. The group reaches the easternmost extent of its distribution in Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...

 with the endemic Fiji Woodswallow
Fiji Woodswallow
The Fiji Woodswallow is a species of woodswallow in the family Artamidae. It is endemic to most of the islands of Fiji, although it is absent from Kadavu Archipelago and the Lau Archipelago. The species was once considered a race of the White-breasted Woodswallow, which breeds from Australia, New...

.

Woodswallows are smooth, agile flyers with moderately large, semi-triangular wings. They are among the very few passerine
Passerine
A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders: with over 5,000 identified species, it has roughly...

s birds that soar, and can often be seen feeding just above the treetops. One sedentary species aside, they are nomads, following the best conditions for flying insects, and often roosting in large flocks.

Although woodswallows have a brush-tipped tongue they seldom use it for gathering nectar.

Species of Artamus

  • Ashy Woodswallow
    Ashy Woodswallow
    The Ashy Woodswallow, Artamus fuscus, is a woodswallow which is found in south Asia.The plumage of this species is pale grey....

    , Artamus fuscus
  • Fiji Woodswallow
    Fiji Woodswallow
    The Fiji Woodswallow is a species of woodswallow in the family Artamidae. It is endemic to most of the islands of Fiji, although it is absent from Kadavu Archipelago and the Lau Archipelago. The species was once considered a race of the White-breasted Woodswallow, which breeds from Australia, New...

    , Artamus mentalis
  • Ivory-backed Woodswallow
    Ivory-backed Woodswallow
    The Ivory-backed Woodswallow is a species of bird in the Artamidae family. It is endemic to Indonesia.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes....

    , Artamus monachus
  • Great Woodswallow
    Great Woodswallow
    The Great Woodswallow is a species of bird in the Artamidae family.It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forest.-References:...

    , Artamus maximus
  • White-breasted Woodswallow
    White-breasted Woodswallow
    The White-breasted Woodswallow, Artamus leucorynchus, is a small passerine bird which breeds from the Andaman Islands east through Indonesia and northern Australia. The name "woodswallow" is a misnomer as they are not closely related to true swallows...

    , Artamus leucorynchus
  • Bismarck Woodswallow
    Bismarck Woodswallow
    The White-backed Woodswallow or Bismarck Woodswallow is a species of bird in the Artamidae family.It is endemic to Papua New Guinea.Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.-References:...

    , Artamus insignis
  • Masked Woodswallow
    Masked Woodswallow
    The Masked Woodswallow is a species of bird in the Artamidae family.It is found in Australia and New Zealand.Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests.-References:...

    , Artamus personatus
  • White-browed Woodswallow
    White-browed Woodswallow
    The White-browed Woodswallow is a moderately-sized passerine bird native to inland Australia. Like all woodswallows, it has a brush-tipped tongue but feeds almost exclusively on flying insects....

    , Artamus superciliosus
  • Black-faced Woodswallow
    Black-faced Woodswallow
    The Black-faced Woodswallow, Artamus cinereus is a woodswallow. This swallow is 19 cm long. It is the most widespread species in the family Artamidae. They live in Australia, New Guinea and the Sunda Islands, including Timor.- External links :*...

    , Artamus cinereus
  • Dusky Woodswallow
    Dusky Woodswallow
    The Dusky Woodswallow , is a bird species of forests and woodlands in tropical and subtropical regions, in eastern and southern Australia....

    , Artamus cyanopterus
  • Little Woodswallow
    Little Woodswallow
    The Little Woodswallow , is a bird patchily distributed over much of mainland Australia, avoiding only the driest deserts and the area within about 300 kilometres of the southern coastline, and showing a preference for rugged terrain around inland ranges.As its name suggests, at 12 to 14 cm in...

    , Artamus minor

External links

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