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Artamus Cyanopterus Mortimer
Woodswallows are soft-plumaged, somber-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". 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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dusky Woodswallow
The dusky woodswallow (''Artamus cyanopterus'') is a bird species of forests and woodlands in temperate and subtropical regions, extending into tropical areas around the Atherton Tableland, in eastern and southern Australia. The global population of the species has as yet not been formally confirmed, but it has been officially rated in the range of 'Least Concern', according to the BirdLife International in 2004. As such, the bird could be described as common in its local habitat. The name "woodswallow" is a misnomer as they are not closely related to true swallows. Instead, they belong to the family Artamidae, which also includes butcherbirds, currawongs and the Australian magpie. Taxonomy The dusky woodswallow was first described by the English ornithologist John Latham in 1801 with the binomial name ''Loxia cyanoptera''. Its specific epithet is derived from the Ancient Greek words ''cyanos'' 'blue' and ''pteron'' 'wing'. Description The dusky woodswallow is medium-sized a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vanuatu
Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (french: link=no, République de Vanuatu; bi, Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, east of New Guinea, southeast of the Solomon Islands, and west of Fiji. Vanuatu was first inhabited by Melanesian people. The first Europeans to visit the islands were a Spanish expedition led by Portuguese navigator Fernandes de Queirós, who arrived on the largest island, Espíritu Santo, in 1606. Queirós claimed the archipelago for Spain, as part of the colonial Spanish East Indies, and named it . In the 1880s, France and the United Kingdom claimed parts of the archipelago, and in 1906, they agreed on a framework for jointly managing the archipelago as the New Hebrides through an Anglo-French condominium. An independence movement arose in the 1970s, and the Republic of Vanuatu was fou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
White-breasted Woodswallow
The white-breasted woodswallow (''Artamus leucorynchus'') is a medium sized 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. Instead, they belong to the family Artamidae, which also includes butcherbirds, currawongs and the Australian magpie. Taxonomy The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1771, its specific epithet derived from the ancient Greek words ''leukos'' 'white', and ''rhynchos'' 'bill'. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1771, its specific epithet derived from the ancient Greek words ''leukos'' 'white', and ''rhynchos'' 'bill'. Nine subspecies of ''Artamus leucorynchus'' and their habitat ranges are: * ''A. l. albiventer'' (Lesson, 1831) - Sulawesi and Lesser Sundas * ''A. l. amydrus'' (Oberholser, 1917) - Sumatra, Bangka, Belitung, Kangean Islands, Java and Bali * ''A. l. humei'' (Stresemann, 1913) - And ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Woodswallow
The great woodswallow (''Artamus maximus''), also known as the greater woodswallow, giant woodswallow or New Guinea woodswallow is a species of bird in the family Artamidae. As its name implies, it is the largest member of the genus ''Artamus'', averaging in length and in mass.McNab, Brian K.; “Ecological Energetics of Birds in New Guinea”; in ''Bulletin of Florida Museum of Natural History'', vol. 52(2); pp. 96-159 In appearance the great woodswallow is very similar to the more widespread white-breasted woodswallow but can be distinguished by its darker black upper side plumage and by the presence of a semi-oval black patch below the throat.Coates, Brian J.; ''The Birds of Papua New Guinea Including the Bismarck Archipelago and Bougainville: Volume 2 - Passerines''; pp. 373-375. Distribution and habitat The great woodswallow occurs naturally in tropical moist montane forest, usually amongst clearings with dead trees, most typically dead emergents above the canopy of primar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Woodswallow
The great woodswallow (''Artamus maximus''), also known as the greater woodswallow, giant woodswallow or New Guinea woodswallow is a species of bird in the family Artamidae. As its name implies, it is the largest member of the genus ''Artamus'', averaging in length and in mass.McNab, Brian K.; “Ecological Energetics of Birds in New Guinea”; in ''Bulletin of Florida Museum of Natural History'', vol. 52(2); pp. 96-159 In appearance the great woodswallow is very similar to the more widespread white-breasted woodswallow but can be distinguished by its darker black upper side plumage and by the presence of a semi-oval black patch below the throat.Coates, Brian J.; ''The Birds of Papua New Guinea Including the Bismarck Archipelago and Bougainville: Volume 2 - Passerines''; pp. 373-375. Distribution and habitat The great woodswallow occurs naturally in tropical moist montane forest, usually amongst clearings with dead trees, most typically dead emergents above the canopy of primar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ivory-backed Woodswallow
The ivory-backed woodswallow (''Artamus monachus'') is a species of bird in the family Artamidae. It is endemic to Sulawesi, Indonesia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...s. References Artamus Endemic birds of Sulawesi Birds described in 1851 Taxa named by Charles Lucien Bonaparte Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Artamidae-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ashy Woodswallow (Artamus Fuscus) At Jayanti, Duars, West Bengal W IMG 5285
The ashy woodswallow (''Artamus fuscus''), sometimes also called the ashy swallow-shrike, is a woodswallow which is found in south Asia. Like other woodswallows, it has a short curved bill, a short square tail and long wings. It is usually seen perched in groups, high on powerlines, tall bare trees and most often in areas with a predominance of tall palm trees. Description This stocky woodswallow has an ashy grey upperparts with a darker head and a narrow pale band on the rump. The underside is pinkish grey and the short slaty black tail is tipped in white. The finch-like bill is silvery. In flight the long wing looks very broad at the base giving it a very triangular outline. The first primary is very short. The legs are short and the birds usually perch on high vantage points from which they make aerial sallies. There are no geographic variations in plumage and no subspecies have been designated. Males and females are indistinguishable in the field, however an old report sugg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ashy Woodswallow
The ashy woodswallow (''Artamus fuscus''), sometimes also called the ashy swallow-shrike, is a woodswallow which is found in south Asia. Like other woodswallows, it has a short curved bill, a short square tail and long wings. It is usually seen perched in groups, high on powerlines, tall bare trees and most often in areas with a predominance of tall palm trees. Description This stocky woodswallow has an ashy grey upperparts with a darker head and a narrow pale band on the rump. The underside is pinkish grey and the short slaty black tail is tipped in white. The finch-like bill is silvery. In flight the long wing looks very broad at the base giving it a very triangular outline. The first primary is very short. The legs are short and the birds usually perch on high vantage points from which they make aerial sallies. There are no geographic variations in plumage and no subspecies have been designated. Males and females are indistinguishable in the field, however an old report sugg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fiji Woodswallow
The Fiji woodswallow (''Artamus mentalis'') 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.Clunie, F. (1976) "Behaviour and Nesting of the Fijian White-breasted Woodswallows" ''Notornis'' 23: 61-7 The species was once considered a race of the white-breasted woodswallow, which breeds from Australia, New Caledonia and Vanuatu through to Borneo and the Philippines. Some authors retain it in that species. The Fiji woodswallow is a chunky bird 18 centimetres (7 in) long with a heavy black-tipped blue bill.Pratt, H., Bruner, P & Berrett, D. (1987) ''The Birds of Hawaii and the Tropical Pacific'' Princeton University Press:Princeton The plumage is sooty dark above, with a white belly, rump and throat. It is distinguished from the white-breasted woodswallow by the amount of white on the throat, which in the Fiji woodswallow comes up to the level of the bil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
