From Opus

Photo by stoop
Darling Downs, Queensland, Australia, June 2007

Struthidea cinerea

[edit] Identification

Length 29-33 cm. The Apostlebird is most often as seen in upper image: mostly grey with soft-looking body feathers. Flight feathers are brown, tail is black, legs are dark, the short, strong bill is black. However, the Birdforum Gallery (link below) show several images of birds with a much more reddish-brown color, be that due to true variation, staining, or an effect of unusual light conditions (see lower image).

Colors seem atypical
Photo by tcollins
Daly waters, Northern Territory, Australia, December 2006

[edit] Distribution

North, east, and south Australia. Highly nomadic.

[edit] Taxonomy

Two subspecies are recognized^[1]:

• S. c. dalyi:

• Interior of Northern Territory and northern Queensland

• S. c. cinerea:

• Central Queensland to northern Victoria and south-eastern South Australia

The only close relative of the Apostlebird is the White-winged Chough.

[edit] Habitat

Woodlands near water, farmlands with trees, roadsides, orchards and golf courses. Open scrub and eucalypt forests

[edit] Behaviour

[edit] Diet

The diet includes insects and seeds.

[edit] Flight

Their flight has a characteristic pattern of flapping intermingled with gliding.

[edit] Breeding

This species are communal mudnest builders, who, as suggested by the name, work in large groups building their mudnests on a tree branch and feeding their young ones. Not always making up a dozen birds, but with several generations helping in the rearing of their young. This group behavior apparantly lead to the name used for this species^[2].

[edit] Vocalisation

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
2. Encyclopaedia Britannica
3. BF Member observations

• List of references

[edit] External Links

• Arthur Grosset's Birds