Alternative names: White-backed Woodswallow; Black-headed Woodswallow; Sclater's Woodswallow; New Britain Woodswallow
- Artamus insignis
Identification
18 - 19cm.
- Sooty black head, throat, wing and tail
- White rest of plumage
- Brown eye with pale greyish-blue eyering
- Pale blue-grey bill with black tip
Sexes similar. Immatures have a tinged brown head, a grey-brown hindneck (not white) and tipped white remiges and outer rectrices.
Similar species
Great Woodswallow is bigger and has all dark upperparts. Ivory-backed Woodswallow is greyer and bigger, ranges don't overlap.
Distribution
Endemic to New Britain and New Ireland in the Bismarck Archipelago (Papua New Guinea).
Locally common but generally scarce.
Taxonomy
Monotypic.[1]
Forms a superspecies with Great Woodswallow and Ivory-backed Woodswallow (and possibly Fiji Woodswallow and White-breasted Woodswallow),
Habitat
Moist lowland forests, clearings and adjacent gardens. Occurs in hills (up to 900m) and adjacent lowlands.
Behaviour
Feeds on insects which are taken on the wing. Soars like Great Woodswallow.
Usually seen in groups of up to 10 birds.
No information about breeding.
A resident species.
References
- Clements, JF. 2009. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2009. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
- Del Hoyo, J, A Elliott, and D Christie, eds. 2009. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 14: Bush-shrikes to Old World Sparrows. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8496553507
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Bismarck Woodswallow. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 29 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Bismarck_Woodswallow
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.
