Artamus cinereus
TAXONOMY
Artamus cinereus Vieillot, 1817, Timor. Four subspecies.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
French: Langrayen gris; German: Schwarzgesicht-Schwalbenstar;
Spanish: Golondrina del Bosque de Cara Negra.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
7.1–7.5 in (18–19 cm); 1.1–1.4 oz (32–40 g). A. c. normani and
A. c. dealbatus both have white undertail-coverts, the other subspecies
have black. Sexes similar in plumage; gray with black
face, silvery underwings, and broad white spots at tip of tail.
Juvenile birds are brown and streaked.
DISTRIBUTION
Broadly distributed across Australia. A. c. normani and A. c. dealbatus,
the two white-vented subspecies, are found respectively
on the Cape York Peninsula and the northeastern Queensland
coastal belt. A. c. cinereus is confined to southwestern Western
Australia, and A. c. melanops is also found in the Lesser Sunda
Islands, including Timor.
HABITAT
Occupy a broad range of habitats, often arid and far from water,
including open eucalypt woodlands, scrub, and spinifex.
BEHAVIOR
Partly nomadic and an opportunistic breeder; mostly sedentary.
Often roost in small flocks tightly clustered. Voice is a sweet
chatter.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Primarily aerial feeders, soaring and swooping after flying insect
prey. They take ground invertebrates, glean vegetation,
and sometimes take flower nectar.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
May breed at any time of year after rains when insects become
abundant. Courtship displays include wing-waving and tailrotating,
displaying their white patches at the tip of their tails.
Nest is a flimsy bowl of plant fibers placed in any available
crevice. Clutch is three to four blotched white eggs. Incubation
lasts 14–16 days, and fledging occurs 18 days later. They may
have helpers at the nest.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Not threatened.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
None known.
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