Artamidae
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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 catch insects on the wing. They are agile flyers with large, pointed wings and are among the very few passerine birds that soar. One sedentary species aside, they are nomads, following the best conditions for flying insects, and often roosting in large flocks.
The cracticines, subfamily Cracticinae (currawongs, Australian Magpie and butcherbirds, sometimes considered a distinct family) are more obviously members of the broader corvid group. They have large, straight bills and mostly black, white or grey plumage. All are omnivorous to some degree: the butcherbirds mostly eat meat, Magpies usually forage through short grass looking for worms and other small creatures, currawongs are true omnivores, taking fruit, grain, meat, insects, eggs and nestlings.
The cracticids, despite their fairly plain, utilitarian appearance, are highly intelligent and have extraordinarily beautiful songs of great subtlety. Particularly noteworthy are the Pied Butcherbird, the Pied Currawong and the Australian Magpie.
[edit] Species of Artamidae
- Subfamily Artaminae
- Ashy Woodswallow, Artamus fuscus
- Fiji Woodswallow, Artamus mentalis
- White-backed Woodswallow, Artamus monachus
- Great Woodswallow, Artamus maximus
- White-breasted Woodswallow, Artamus leucorynchus
- Bismarck Woodswallow, Artamus insignis
- Masked Woodswallow, Artamus personatus
- White-browed Woodswallow, Artamus superciliosus
- Black-faced Woodswallow, Artamus cinereus
- Dusky Woodswallow, Artamus cyanopterus
- Little Woodswallow, Artamus minor
- Subfamily Cracticinae:
- Mountain Peltops, Peltops montanus
- Lowland Peltops, Peltops blainvillii
- Black Butcherbird, Cracticus quoyi
- Grey Butcherbird, Cracticus torquatus
- Hooded Butcherbird, Cracticus cassicus
- Tagula Butcherbird, Cracticus louisiadensis
- Black-backed Butcherbird, Cracticus mentalis
- Pied Butcherbird, Cracticus nigrogularis
- Pied Currawong, Strepera graculina
- Black Currawong, Strepera fuliginosa
- Grey Currawong, Strepera versicolor
- Australian Magpie, Gymnorhina tibicen
A fossil right scapula (MNZ S41061) found at the Manuherikia River in Otago, New Zealand and dating from the Early to Middle Miocene (Awamoan to Lillburnian, 19-16 million years ago) represents a member of the Cracticinae.[1]
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Worthy et al. (2007)
[edit] References
- Worthy, Trevor H.; Tennyson, A.J.D.; Jones, C.; McNamara, J.A. & Douglas, B.J. (2007): Miocene waterfowl and other birds from central Otago, New Zealand. J. Syst. Palaeontol. 5(1): 1-39. doi:10.1017/S1477201906001957 (HTML abstract)
[edit] External links
- Artamidae videos on the Internet Bird Collection
