White-breasted Woodswallow Artamus leucoryn leucorynchus

White-breasted Woodswallow Artamus leucoryn
(aka Artamus leucorynchus)

Australia

The White-breasted Woodswallow is distributed in Australia near the coast from Shark Bay, WA, around the north of Australia to Manning River, NSW. It is also found inland in eastern Australia near to rivers but is not found south of the Murray Valley. Additionally, it is found in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Fiji.

The head, chin and back are smoky slate-grey with a tinge of brown on the back while the underparts and rump are white. The bill is blue-grey with a black tip. It is the only Australian Woodswallow without a whitish tip to its tail.

They are possibly the most sociable of the Woodswallows and are often found perched side by side on a branch near water as in photo 1.

They feed on insects caught by hawking from a perch and can use their feet to manoeuvre their prey.

The call is a brisk "pirt pirt"

White-breasted Woodswallow, Cairns, Queensland, Australia, November 2010 - click for larger image

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