The great woodswallow (''Artamus maximus''), also known as the greater woodswallow, giant woodswallow or New Guinea woodswallow is a species of

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 ...

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 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 ...

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 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 ...

, usually amongst clearings with dead trees, most typically dead emergents above the canopy of primary rainforest. Although the species has been known to be common ever since the first Western explorers of New Guinea, it has adapted very well to human manipulation of the landscape and is especially common near Highland towns such as

Mount Hagen Mount Hagen ( tpi, Maun Hagen) is the third largest city in Papua New Guinea, with a population of 46,250. It is the capital of the Western Highlands Province and is located in the large fertile Wahgi Valley in central mainland Papua New Guinea, ...

and

Goroka Goroka is the capital of the Eastern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea. It is a town of approximately 19,000 people (2000), above sea level. It has an airport (in the centre of town) and is on the " Highlands Highway", about 285 km from ...

. Great woodswallows are found as high as , but are most abundant between and . Unlike the Australian

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 ...

,Maddocks, Tracy A. and Geiser, Fritz; “Heterothermy in an Australian passerine, the Dusky Woodswallow (''Artamus cyanopterus'')”; in ''Journal of Ornithology'', Volume 148, Issue 4(October 2007); pp. 571-577 great woodswallows do not reduce their body temperature on cool nights.

Behaviour and breeding

Like its smaller relatives, the great woodswallow is a fast-flying aerial

insectivore A robber fly eating a hoverfly An insectivore is a carnivorous animal or plant that eats insects. An alternative term is entomophage, which can also refer to the human practice of eating insects. The first vertebrate insectivores wer ...

feeding chiefly on large flying insects. It is generally regarded as the smallest bird in the world that habitually soars on updrafts over long distances, but it will also use its feet to manipulate its insect prey. Great woodswallows are highly social, flying in flocks of up to twenty birds, and nomadic over their montane forest habitat. It is common for very close “knots” of the species to allopreen on small posts for up to ten minutes. They usually breed between August and December, and the nest is like other woodswallows: a flat platform of grass or twigs in a tree hole or stump, though higher above the ground than other species in the genus. Great woodswallows are

cooperative breeders Cooperative breeding is a social system characterized by alloparental care: offspring receive care not only from their parents, but also from additional group members, often called helpers. Cooperative breeding encompasses a wide variety of group ...

, with most young adults remaining for a number of years with their parents to raise young. Great Woodswallow group

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q794776

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'', a ...

Birds of New Guinea

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot