Woodswallow
| Woodswallows | |
|---|---|
| |
| Dusky woodswallow (Artamus cyanopterus) | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Artamidae |
| Subfamily: | Artaminae C. G. Sibley & J. A. Ahlquist, 1990 |
| Genus: | Artamus Vieillot, 1816 |
| Type species | |
| "Langraien" Buffon=Lanius leucorhynchus Linnaeus, 1771 | |
| Species | |
|
11, see text | |
Woodswallows are soft-plumaged, sombre-coloured passerine birds in the genus Artamus. The woodswallows are either treated as a subfamily, Artaminae, in an expanded family Artamidae (also including the subfamily Cracticinae), or as the only genus in that family (with the butcherbirds, currawongs, and allies placed in a separate family, Cracticidae). The generic name, which in turn gives rise to the family name, is derived from the Ancient Greek artamos, meaning butcher or murder. The name was given due to their perceived similarity to shrikes. A former common name for the group was "swallow-starlings".[1]
Taxonomy
[edit]The genus Artamus was introduced in 1816 by the French ornithologist Louis Vieillot to accommodate a single species, the "Langraien", that had been described in 1770 by the French naturalist, the Comte de Buffon.[2][3] The "Langraien" is the white-breasted woodswallow that had been assigned the binomial name Lanius leucorhynchus by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1771. It is the type species of the genus.[4][5] The genus name is from Ancient Greek αρταμος/artamos meaning "butcher" or "murderer".[6]
Distribution
[edit]The woodswallows have an Australasian distribution, with most species occurring in Australia and New Guinea. The ashy woodswallow has an exclusively Asian distribution, ranging from India and Sri Lanka through South East Asia to China, and the most widespread species is the white-breasted woodswallow, which ranges from Peninsular Malaysia through to Australia in the south and Vanuatu and New Caledonia. The group reaches the easternmost extent of its distribution in Fiji with the endemic Fiji woodswallow.[1]
Description
[edit]Woodswallows are smooth, agile flyers with moderately large, semi-triangular wings. They are among the very few passerines 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.
The nests of woodswallows are loosely constructed from fine twigs, and both parents help rear the young.[7]
Species
[edit]The genus contains 11 species:[8]
| Image | Common name | Scientific name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
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Ashy woodswallow | Artamus fuscus | India to southeast China and Indochina |
 |
White-breasted woodswallow | Artamus leucorynchus | Andaman Islands, Indonesian Archipelago, Philippines, New Guinea region, north, east Australia, Vanuatu, New Caledonia and Palau (west Caroline Islands, west Micronesia) |
 |
Fiji woodswallow | Artamus mentalis | Viti Levu, Vanua Levu, Taveuni and satellites (Fiji, southwest Polynesia) |
 |
Ivory-backed woodswallow | Artamus monachus | Sulawesi, Lembeh (east of northeast Sulawesi), Togian Islands (between northeast and central east Sulawesi), Butung (south of southeast Sulawesi), Banggai Islands and Sula Islands is. (east of Sulawesi) |
 |
Great woodswallow | Artamus maximus | montane New Guinea |
 |
White-backed woodswallow | Artamus insignis | New Ireland and New Britain (east Bismarck Archipelago) |
 |
Masked woodswallow | Artamus personatus | Australia (except north Cape York Peninsula and Tasmania) |
 |
White-browed woodswallow | Artamus superciliosus | widely distributed in Australia |
 |
Black-faced woodswallow | Artamus cinereus | east Lesser Sunda Islands, Australia and central south New Guinea |
 |
Dusky woodswallow | Artamus cyanopterus | south, east Australia and Tasmania |
 |
Little woodswallow | Artamus minor | Australia (except south, Tasmania) |
References
[edit]
- ^ a b Rowley, Ian; Russell, Eleanor (2009). "Family Artamidae (Woodswallows)". In del Hoyo, Josep; Elliott, Andrew; Christie, David (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol. 14: Bush-shrikes to Old World Sparrows. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. pp. 286–307. ISBN 978-84-96553-50-7.
- ^ Vieillot, Louis Pierre (1816). Analyse d'une Nouvelle Ornithologie Élémentaire (in French). Paris: Deterville/self. p. 41.
- ^ Buffon, Georges-Louis Leclerc de (1770). "Langraien et Tcha-chert". Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux (in French). Vol. 2. Paris: De l'Imprimerie Royale. p. 89.
- ^ Linnaeus, Carl (1771). "Regni Animalis Appendix. Aves". Mantissa plantarum altera. Generum editionis VI. & specierum editionis II (in Latin). Holmiae (Stockholm): Salvius. p. 524.
- ^ Mayr, Ernst; Greenway, James C. Jr, eds. (1962). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 15. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 161.
- ^ Jobling, James A. "Artamus". The Key to Scientific Names. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
- ^ Howley, Ian (1991). Forshaw, Joseph (ed.). Encyclopaedia of Animals: Birds. London: Merehurst Press. pp. 226–227. ISBN 1-85391-186-0.
- ^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (February 2025). "Bristlehead, butcherbirds, woodswallows, Mottled Berryhunter, ioras, cuckooshrikes". IOC World Bird List Version 15.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
External links
[edit]- Woodswallow videos on the Internet Bird Collection
