Habitat
Mainly dry, open sclerophyll forests and woodlands, usually dominated by eucalypts, including smaller mallee associations, usually with open or sparse understorey of eucalypt saplings, acacia and other shrubs and a ground-cover of grasses or sedges. Often found at the edges or in clearings of forests and woodlands. Also shrublands and heathland.
Dusky Woodswallow (Artamus cyanopterus) [XC674051]
by Marc Anderson from Lune River, Huon Valley Council, Tasmania, Australia (call)
Dusky Woodswallow (Artamus cyanopterus) [XC580225]
by Marc Anderson from The Pilliga, New South Wales, Australia (call, song)
Nest
Open, cup-shaped, composed of thin dry twigs and lined with grasses, placed in the fork of a tree, on a projecting piece of bark on a tree trunk, or on top of a stump, about 1 - 15 meters above the ground.
Eggs (Guide)
3 or 4; cream with purple-brown spots and blotches, paricularly at the larger end; oval; about 23 x 17 mm. Incubation: about 16 days; by both sexes.
Young
Altricial, nidicolous. Fledge in about 16 - 20 days. Fed by both parents.
Subspecies
Subspecies intergrade in southern South Australia (Eyre Peninsula region).
The following 2 subspecies are recognised:
cyanopterus (Latham, 1801) - Eastern, central-southern and south-eastern Australia, including Kangaroo I (South Australia), islands in Bass Strait (King I, Flinders I) and Tasmania.
perthi (Mathews, 1915) - South-western Australia east to southern South Australia (Eyre Peninsula).
Similar Species
Black-faced Woodswallow (Artamus cinereus) which is lighter and greyer, and slightly larger and lacks a prominent white leading edge to the upper wing, and Little Woodswallow (Artamus minor) which is darker and smaller and lacks a prominent white leading edge to the upper wing.
References
See References.
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
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BirdLife International Species Factsheet