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Artamus
EntityQ2483684· pop 31· linked from 193 articles

Also known as Woodswallow

Woodswallows are soft-plumaged, sombre-coloured passerine birds in the genus Artamus. The woodswallows are either treated as a subfamily, Artaminae, in an expanded family Artamidae (also including the subfamily Cracticinae), or as the only genus in that family (with the butcherbirds, currawongs, and allies placed in a separate family, Cracticidae). The generic name, which in turn gives rise to the family name, is derived from the Ancient Greek artamos, meaning butcher or murder. The name was given due to their perceived similarity to shrikes. A former common name for the group was "swallow-sta

Species

GENUS

  1. KingdomAnimalia
  2. PhylumChordata
  3. ClassAves
  4. OrderPasseriformes
  5. FamilyArtamidae
Observations recorded1,032,307

Die Schwalbenstare (Artamus) sind eine Gattung aus der Familie der Schwalbenstarverwandten (Artamidae) in der Ordnung der Sperlingsvögel (Passeriformes). Das Verbreitungsgebiet erstreckt sich von Australien, Neuguinea, Philippinen bis in den indischen und südchinesischen Raum. In den letztgenannten befinden sich die Brutgebiete einiger Arten. Schwalbenstare haben zwei Besonderheiten. Sie verfügen als einzige Singvögel über Puderdunen und haben die Fähigkeit sich kreiselnd von Aufwinden nach oben tragen zu lassen. Ihre Beute, die überwiegend aus Insekten besteht, erspähen sie von einer Warte aus. Sie haben einen sehr anmutigen und wendigen Flug. Der kleine Körper ist gedrungen und ihre Flügel sind spitz und lang.

via GBIF

Museum specimens

Specimen records
157
With media
57
Family
Artamidae
Collections
NMV, ANWC, CUMV, MSU, CLO
Recorded in
Australia, Indonesia

~4 min read

Encyclopedic overview

6 sections
Contents
  • Taxonomy
  • Distribution
  • Description
  • Species
  • References
  • External links

Woodswallows are soft-plumaged, sombre-coloured passerine birds in the genus Artamus. The woodswallows are either treated as a subfamily, Artaminae, in an expanded family Artamidae (also including the subfamily Cracticinae), or as the only genus in that family (with the butcherbirds, currawongs, and allies placed in a separate family, Cracticidae). The generic name, which in turn gives rise to the family name, is derived from the Ancient Greek artamos, meaning butcher or murder. The name was given due to their perceived similarity to shrikes. A former common name for the group was "swallow-starlings".

==Taxonomy== The genus Artamus was introduced in 1816 by the French ornithologist Louis Vieillot to accommodate a single species, the "Langraien", that had been described in 1770 by the French naturalist, the Comte de Buffon. The "Langraien" is the white-breasted woodswallow that had been assigned the binomial name Lanius leucorhynchus by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1771. It is the type species of the genus. The genus name is from Ancient Greek αρταμος/artamos meaning "butcher" or "murderer".

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Artamus” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (24)