Birds Guide

Artamidae
Gymnorhina tibicen - Australian Magpie.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia   Phylum: Chordata   Class: Aves   Order: Passeriformes   Family: Artamidae Vigors, 1825
Subfamilies
Artaminae Cracticinae

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 cracticids—currawongs, Magpie, and butcherbirds, subfamily Cracticinae—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.

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

External links

• Artamidae videos on the Internet Bird Collection