The apostlebird (''Struthidea cinerea''), also known as the grey jumper, lousy jack, happy jack, Donny bird or caw bird is a quick-moving, gray or black
bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...
about 33 cm (13 in) long. It is a native to
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
where it roams
woodland
A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...
s, eating insects and seeds at, or near, ground level. Apostlebirds often travel in groups of about 12; for this reason, they were named after the 12
Biblical
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
apostles.
Taxonomy
![Apostlebird - Bimbi](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/Apostlebird_-_Bimbi.jpg)
Originally described by ornithologist
John Gould
John Gould (; 14 September 1804 – 3 February 1881) was an English ornithologist. He published a number of monographs on birds, illustrated by plates produced by his wife, Elizabeth Gould, and several other artists, including Edward Lear, ...
in 1837, its specific epithet is
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
''cinerea'' "grey". In its
own genus ''Struthidea'', it is placed in the family known as the mud-nest builders or Corcoracidae, written as Grallinidae in older books before the removal of the genus ''
Grallina
''Grallina'' is a genus of passerine bird native to Australia and New Guinea. It is a member of a group of birds termed monarch flycatchers.
Taxonomy Higher taxonomy
Long thought to be a member of the mudnest builder family Corcoracidae, the ...
'' to the monarch family. It is one of two remaining species, with the
white-winged chough
The white-winged chough (''Corcorax melanorhamphos'') is one of only two surviving members of the Australian mud-nest builders family, Corcoracidae, and is the only member of the genus ''Corcorax''. It is native to southern and eastern Australia ...
(''Corcorax melanorhamphos''), which differs in appearance but exhibits many behavioural similarities. The mudnest builder family Corcoracidae itself is now placed in a narrower "core corvine" group, which contains the crows and ravens, shrikes, birds of paradise, fantails, monarch flycatchers, and drongos.
![Struthidea cinerea lined up](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Struthidea_cinerea_lined_up.jpg)
The apostlebird was named after the
Biblical
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
apostles, the twelve followers of
Jesus Christ
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
.
[ In fact, the species travel in family groups of between 6 and 20, which may coalesce with other family groups into large feeding flocks of over 40. Their gregarious nature, and harsh scolding/grating calls have led to a plethora of colloquial names. They can be known locally as ''lousy jacks'' (due to heavy louse infestations), ''happy jacks'', and ''happy families''. ''Grey jumper'' is an alternate name.
]
Description
Measuring around 33 cm (13 in) in length, the apostlebird is a predominantly dark grey bird with a long black tail tinted greenish in sunlight. The grey feathers on the head, neck and breast are brushed with paler grey-white and the wings are brownish. The legs and bill are black and the eyes brown or white.
Distribution and habitat
The natural range is across inland eastern Australia, from the mallee regions of northern Victoria and eastern South Australia, north through New South Wales and central-western Queensland to the Gulf Country
The Gulf Country is the region of woodland and savanna grassland surrounding the Gulf of Carpentaria in north western Queensland and eastern Northern Territory on the north coast of Australia. The region is also called the Gulf Savannah. It ...
. There is an isolated population in the Northern Territory. Dry open woodland is the preferred habitat, especially ''Callitris
''Callitris'' is a genus of coniferous trees in the Cupressaceae (cypress family). There are 16 recognized species in the genus, of which 13 are native to Australia and the other three (''C. neocaledonica, C. sulcata'' and ''C. p ...
'' in New South Wales and ''Casuarina
''Casuarina'' is a genus of 17 tree species in the family Casuarinaceae, native to Australia, the Indian subcontinent, southeast Asia, islands of the western Pacific Ocean, and eastern Africa. It was once treated as the sole genus in the fami ...
'' in Queensland, and Lancewood-Bulwaddi communities in the Northern Territory.[
]
Breeding
Apostlebirds are a socially living, cooperative breeding species with each breeding group generally containing only one breeding pair, the rest being either their helper offspring, kin or unrelated adult birds. Most group members help construct a mud nest, share in incubation of the eggs, and defense of the nest. Once the eggs are hatched, all members of the group help feed the chicks and keep the nest clean.
Apostlebirds are a fission-fusion society. In winter, birds flock in larger groups, and as breeding season approaches winter groups break into smaller breeding groups. This change in group size is a consequence of breeding groups merging in the winter and breaking apart again in the summer breeding season. Breeding groups use small, non overlapping home ranges around the nest site, while winter ranges are larger with groups freely interacting with other groups.
Breeding season is from August to December. The nest is a deep cup-shaped structure made of grasses held together with mud or sometimes manure in a tree fork up to seven or eight metres above the ground. Three to five pale blue-white eggs sparsely splotched with brown and lavender shades are laid measuring 22 mm x 29 mm. They are tapered oval in shape.
Conservation status
Apostlebirds are not listed as threatened on the Australian Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999
The ''Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'' (Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia that provides a framework for protection of the Australian environment, including its biodiversity and its natural and cultu ...
. However, their conservation status varies from state to state within Australia. For example:
* The apostlebird is listed as threatened on the Victorian Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act (1988)
The ''Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988'', also known as the ''FFG Act'', is an act of the Victorian Government designed to protect species, genetic material and habitats, to prevent extinction and allow maximum genetic diversity within the Au ...
. Under this Act, an ''Action Statement'' for the recovery and future management of this species has not yet been prepared.''Department of Sustainability and Environment, Victoria''
* On the 2007 advisory list of threatened vertebrate fauna in Victoria, the apostlebird is not listed as a threatened species.
References
External links
Apostlebird videos, photos & sounds
on the Internet Bird Collection
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1049598
Corcoracidae
Endemic birds of Australia
Birds described in 1837