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22

Black-faced Woodswallow (Artamus cinereus) Alternate name(s): "Grey-breasted Woodswallow", "White-bellied Woodswallow", "White-vented Woodswallow" Aboriginal name(s): Race "cinereus": "bewoen*" (WA) Size: 18-20 cm Weight: 32-40 g

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Similar species

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Black-faced Woodswallows are medium-sized woodswallows. Their plumage is grey, except for a small black facial mask and a black vent and undertail. The upperwings are darker grey than the rest of the body, while the underwings are off-white. The eyes have dark irises. The short, pointy, nearly triangular-shaped bill is bluish-grey, with a black tip. The legs and feet are grey. Juveniles have highly cryptic, more brownish-grey plumage throughout, with heavy streaking on front and back, a buff throat patch and dark grey-brown wing tail and feathers. The bill is pale bluish-grey, with a dark tip.

Taxonomy, classification See Black-faced Woodswallow at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Black-faced Woodswallow is available HERE . Black-faced Woodswallows are found only in Australia and in Timor Leste. NB: Reports on ebird of birds submitted by birdwatchers from the Australian Outback tend to be clustered along roads and public areas such as camp grounds; in such cases their distribution is not a good representation of the overall distribution of the species. All four races of Black-faced Woodswallows found in Australia are endemic to the continent - for details see a field guide. Altogether, Black-faced Woodswallows populate almost the entire Australian continent, except the south-eastern coastal fringe, from about Rockhampton, QLD, southward up to about Adelaide, SA. They are not found on Tasmania and the tip of Cape York peninsula either. Most of the continent is occupied by race "melanops". The only exceptions, within their overall range as outlined above, are the near-coastal fringe in southern/central QLD, where race "dealbatus" resides, Cape York peninsula (race "normani") and southern WA (below a line connecting Carnarwon, WA, with the Nullarbor), where nominate race "cinereus" is found. Black-faced Woodswallows prefer dry, open country, which is why they are not found in the densely wooded parts of the continent. They can be found in open grassland, but also by roadsides and in particular in fallow fields.

Sightings Click here for sighting information Race "cinereus" C. Pears reports spotting a Black-faced Woodswallow, race "cinereus", at Mellenbye Station, ca. 50 km NE of Morawa, WA, in September 2022. Race "melanops" Black-faced Woodswallows, race "melanops", were first spotted by us 20 km South-West of Narrabri, NSW, in September 2006. They were seen again in the same location in February 2008. Black-faced Woodswallows, race "melanops", were also seen by us in many different locations along the Darling River and into SA in March 2008. A small number of Black-faced Woodswallows, race "melanops", can always be found by the side of the Kamilaroi Highway between Cryon and Walgett, NSW, along the roadside and on fallow fields in broadacre farming country; they have been seen by us there many times since 2008. Black-faced Woodswallows, race "melanops", were seen again in May 2011, about 10 km South of Pilliga, NSW. At the time there was a cold spell, with night time temperatures around 0 C. Another group of Black-faced Woodswallows, race "melanops", was found 10 km South of Wee Waa, NSW, in May 2018. Since then, they are found semi-regularly at this location. In February 2023, they had juveniles with them when found there. In June 2016 J. Greaves spotted a Black-faced Woodswallow, race "melanops", in Cook, SA, on the edge of the Nullarbor. M. Mackay reports finding Black-faced Woodswallows, race "melanops", breeding in Coober Pedy, SA, in September 2016. M. Eaton reports spotting Black-faced Woodswallows, race "melanops", at Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, near Cunnamulla, QLD, in September 2017. We found them at the same location in June 2019. Black-faced Woodswallows, race "melanops", were spotted by us along the Hungerford to Bourke Road, northern NSW, in June 2019. J. Greaves reports spotting the more brownish "small-faced" variety of Black-faced Woodswallows, race "melanops", at Warmun, WA, in May 2014. H. Mouritsen reports spotting the "small-faced" northern variety of Black-faced Woodswallows, race "melanops", near Pine Creek, NT, in October 2015.

Photos

Race "cinereus"

ADULT

Sex unknown

Frontal view of a Black-faced Woodswallow looking sideways (photo courtesy of C. Pears)
[Mellenbye Station, ca. 50 km NE of Morawa, WA, September 2022]

Race "melanops"

ADULT

Sex unknown

Close-up frontal view of an adult Black-faced Woodswallow
[Near Wee Waa, NSW, May 2023]

Close-up frontal view of a Black-faced Woodswallow looking sideways
[Near Wee Waa, NSW, May 2023]

Close-up frontal/ventral view of a Black-faced Woodswallow
[Near Wee Waa, NSW, February 2023]

Close-up near-lateral view of a Black-faced Woodswallow looking towards the observer
[Near Pilliga, NSW, July 2023]

Near-lateral view of a Black-faced Woodswallow looking towards the observer (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, near Cunnamulla, QLD, September 2017]

Near-lateral view of a Black-faced Woodswallow
[Near Cryon, NSW, September 2017]

Near-lateral view of a Black-faced Woodswallow (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[September 2018]

Lateral view of a Black-faced Woodswallow; this is one of the birds whose calls were recorded on 20 June 2019
[Hungerford to Bourke Road, north-western NSW, June 2019]

Lateral view of a moulting Black-faced Woodswallow
[Near Cryon, NSW, March 2022]

Lateral view of a Black-faced Woodswallow shaking its feathers
[20 km South of Narrabri, NSW, September 2006]

Lateral view of Black-faced Woodswallows resting in a tree
[June 2011]

Close-up lateral/ventral view of a Black-faced Woodswallow
[Near Wee Waa, NSW, November 2023]

Ventral view of Black-faced Woodswallows in a dead tree
[20 km South of Narrabri, NSW, September 2006]

Lateral view of a Black-faced Woodswallow in flight
[Near Cryon, NSW, June 2012]

Black-faced Woodswallow in a "hairpin bend"
[20 km South of Narrabri, NSW, September 2006]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Close-up near-frontal view of a juvenile Black-faced Woodswallow moulting into adult plumage
[Near Wee Waa, NSW, February 2023]

Lateral view of a juvenile Black-faced Woodswallow moulting into adult plumage
[Near Wee Waa, NSW, February 2023]

Near-lateral view of a juvenile Black-faced Woodswallow
[Near Cryon, NSW, March 2022]

Race "melanops", "small-masked" variety

Birds in the northern tropics tend to be browner than their cousins in the South and they have smaller facial masks.

ADULT

Near-frontal view of a Black-faced Woodswallow; note the very small black facial mask, which is basically a small triangle around the eye (photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[Turkey Creek Airstrip, Warmun, WA, May 2014]

Lateral view of a Black-faced Woodswallow (photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[Turkey Creek Airstrip, Warmun, WA, May 2014]

Breeding information

Breeding season: Aug - Dec

Eggs: 3 - 4

Incubation period: 14 - 16 days

Fledging age: ca. 18 days

The core breeding season listed in the table above applies to the southern half of the continent. Like most species of Australian Woodswallows, Black-faced Woodswallows can in principle breed at any time of year. Their breeding season depends on geographic latitude and, especially in the semi-arid to arid interior, on seasonal conditions.

Nest building: Female & male

Incubation: Female & male

Dependent care: Female & male

Nest

"bungobittah", "lar", "malunna", "jindi" [bundjalung] = nest [Aboriginal]

Type: Basket

Material: Twigs, dry grass stalks

Height above ground: <2 m

Overview of the location of a Black-faced Woodswallow nest in a number of stack steel mats (photo courtesy of M. Mackay)
[Coober Pedy, SA, September 2016]

Black-faced Woodswallow feeding its chicks (photo courtesy of M. Mackay)
[Coober Pedy, SA, September 2016]

Black-faced Woodswallow chicks in their nest (photo courtesy of M. Mackay)
[Coober Pedy, SA, September 2016]

Eggs

"boyanga", "booyanga", "derinya", "dirandil", "koomura", "mirk", "ngampu", "nooluk", "pateena", "pum-pum" = Egg; "dirundirri" = eggs [Aboriginal]; "gawu" = eggs [gamilaraay]

Size: 22 x 17 mm

Colour: Creamy, with light- to mid-brown speckles

Shape: Tapered oval

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Communal

Mobility: Locally nomadic

Elementary unit: Small flock

We have seen Black-faced Woodswallows in a flock of about 10, executing extreme flight manouvers with very tight bends. Although a relatively small bird, one can hear the air swishing through their wing feathers in these tight bends. Their behavioural patterns are in some respects reminiscent of big raptors - they can hover in flight before diving down like falcons. In others they resemble more those of Rainbow Bee-eaters, for example when using long halms as perches for hunting in grassland.

Black-faced Woodswallows in a huddle
[Near Wee Waa, NSW, February 2023]

Black-faced Woodswallows by a roadside
[Near Cryon, NSW, June 2012]

Black-faced Woodswallow on a clod of soil in a fallow field
[Near Cryon, NSW, June 2012]

Like other species of woodswallows, this family of Black-faced Woodswallows likes to huddle
[Near Narrabri, NSW, February 2008]

Food, Diet

Adults: Small insects

Dependents: As adults

Water intake: Daily(?)

Like all members of the Artamus family known to us, Black-faced Woodswallows hunt small insects which they devour in-flight. There are reports of them also feeding on nectar, which we have not seen yet.

Call(s)/Song

For this species we have recorded the following call(s)/song. The interpretation of their meaning is our own; comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome.

blfwood_20190620_4.m4a	melanops (NW NSW)	Contact calls(?)	© MD
blfwood_20190620.m4a	melanops (NW NSW)	Warning call(?)	© MD
blfwood_20190620_2.m4a	melanops (NW NSW)	Alarm call(?)	© MD
blfwood_20190620_3.m4a	melanops (NW NSW)	Various	© MD

More Black-faced Woodswallow sound recordings are available at xeno-canto.org .

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

Would you like to contribute photos or sound recordings to this site? If interested, please CLICK HERE. Credits to contributors are given HERE.

Disclaimer: Comments are always welcome. We give no guarantee that the information presented on these pages is always correct or up-to-date. External links are marked as such and we take no responsibility for the contents of external pages. All images on this site are protected by copyright & used by permission of the respective owners. If you wish to reproduce them or any of the material presented on this web site, please contact us: We hereby acknowledge the original custodians of the land which is described on these pages, including the Gomeroi/Gamilaraay people of the North-west Slopes and Plains of NSW, and the traditional owners of other lands and nations within this country. We acknowledge elders past, present and emerging. Sovereignty was never ceded.          Last updated: Mon, 20 November 2023, 4:08 +00:00