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Masked Woodswallow (Artamus personatus) Alternate name(s): "Blue-bird", "Bush Martin", "Blue Martin", "Skimmer*" Aboriginal name(s): "djilbong" (WA) Size: 19-20 cm Body mass: 26-41 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 Masked Woodswallows are large woodswallows. Their plumage is dimorphic, i.e. males and females are slightly different. Male Masked Woodswallows have a black facial mask from the lores to the ear coverts and throat, the lower part of which is bordered by a near-white edge. The rest of the front is pale-grey. The back is grey, with dark-grey wing feathers with thin light edges. The uppertail is also grey. Females have duller colours, with less colour contrast of the facial mask and a more pinkish front. The long pointy, slightly down-curved bill of both sexes is bluish-grey, with a black tip. The legs and feet are grey. Juveniles have highly cryptic, more brownish-grey plumage throughout, with a heavily striated back and dark grey-brown wing tail and feathers. The bill is also brownish, with a dark tip.

Taxonomy, classification See Masked 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 Masked Woodswallow is available HERE . 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. Masked Woodswallows are endemic to the Australian continent. They are found almost all over the continent, with the following exceptions. Masked Woodswallows are not found on Cape York peninsula and parts of the southern coast of VIC. They are rarely seen in the south-eastern coastal strip from Melbourne, VIC, up to about the NSW/QLD border and the south-western tip of the continent in WA. They are rare also in the Top End of the NT, the Kimberley, the major deserts of WA and the Lake Eyre Basin. They are also rarely found in western QLD, in an area South of Cape York peninsula, roughly between Mt. Isa and Cairns, QLD, reaching southward to just beyond the tropic of Capricorn. Masked Woodswallows prefer inland habitats, often partly wooded, but also open country around tree belts and semi-arid scrub. Where to look? How to find this species? In our experience, the most likely way one can find Masked Woodswallows is to watch out for migrating flocks. These are often noisy affairs that one can more easily hear than see at altitude. The flocks often count in the thousands of birds and they are often mixed flocks of Masked Woodswallows and White-browed Woodswallows.

Sightings Click here for sighting information Masked Woodswallows are regularly seen by C. Hayne and A. Lines at various locations around Moree, NSW. C. Hayne reports that in the Moree area they always come in huge flocks of hundreds, often thousands, of birds and are always together with White-browed Woodswallows. In far western NSW the number of birds seen together drops. In the outback, beyond Bourke, NSW, they were found by us to be widespread and present in large numbers, but in each location only in pairs or small groups of up to 6 birds. In November 2012 a mixed flock of in total about 200 Masked Woodswallows and White-browed Woodswallows was seen at Eulah Creek, 20 km East of Narrabri, NSW. More large mixed flocks were spotted at the same location and in other locations around Narrabri, NSW (e.g. the Pilliga scrub), in the years since. B. Hensen reports finding a bird that looks like a hybrid between a Masked Woodswallow and a White-browed Woodswallow at Oolambeyan NP, near Hay, NSW, in November 2012. M. Eaton reports finding a mixed flock of Masked Woodswallows and White-browed Woodswallows in Durikai State Forest, near Warwick, QLD, in September 2017. M. Mearns spotted Masked Woodswallows in Diamantina NP, QLD, in August 2019.

Photos

ADULT

PAIR

Frontal view of a pair of Masked Woodswallows perched in an Acacia salicina - male on the left, female on the right
[Eulah Creek, NSW, October 2018]

Near-lateral view of a pair of Masked Woodswallows in a dead tree; male, on the left, looking sideways
[Near Hungerford, QLD, September 2012]

Comparison of a male Masked Woodswallow (lower right) with a female White-browed Woodswallow
[Eulah Creek, NSW, September 2015]

MALE

Close-up frontal view of a male Masked Woodswallow (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Durikai SF, near Warwick, QLD, September 2017]

Close-up frontal view of a male Masked Woodswallow issuing its call
[Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, near Cunnamulla, QLD, June 2019]

Close-up frontal/ventral view of a male Masked Woodswallow looking sideways
[Eulah Creek, NSW, November 2018]

Frontal view of a male Masked Woodswallow stretching a wing
[Near Hungerford, QLD, September 2012]

Lateral view of a male Masked Woodswallow perched in an Acacia salicina
[Eulah Creek, NSW, September 2015]

Lateral view of a male Masked Woodswallow in flight seen in a mixed flock with White-browed Woodswallows

Ventral view of a male Masked Woodswallow in flight
[Eulah Creek, NSW, September 2015]

FEMALE

Close-up frontal view of a female Masked Woodswallow looking sideways (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Windorah, QLD, September 2022]

Frontal/ventral view of a female Masked Woodswallow
[Eulah Creek, NSW, November 2018]

Frontal/ventral view of a female Masked Woodswallow stretching a wing
[Eulah Creek, NSW, November 2018]

Near-lateral view of a preening female Masked Woodswallow perched in an Acacia salicina
[Eulah Creek, NSW, October 2015]

Near-lateral view of a female Masked Woodswallow (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Near Wee Waa, NSW, November 2018]

Near-lateral/ventral view of a female Masked Woodswallow looking towards the observer
[Eulah Creek, NSW, October 2018]

Near-lateral/ventral view of a female Masked Woodswallow looking sideways
[Eulah Creek, NSW, October 2018]

Lateral view of a female Masked Woodswallow perched in a Acacia salicina
[Eulah Creek, NSW, October 2015]

Lateral view of a female Masked Woodswallow in flight seen in a mixed flock with White-browed Woodswallows
[Eulah Creek, NSW, September 2015]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Near-dorsal view of an immature Masked Woodswallow moulting into adult plumage (photo courtesy of V. Collins)
[Near Wee Waa, NSW, October 2021]

Hybrid Masked/White-browed Woodswallow(?)

Frontal view of a possible hybrid between Masked Woodswallow and White-browed Woodswallow
(photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Oolambeyan NP, near Hay, NSW, November 2012]

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Communal

Mobility: Nomadic/migratory

Elementary unit: Flock

Where their ranges overlap, Masked Woodswallows usually come in mixed flocks with White-browed Woodswallows.

Mixed flock of Masked Woodswallows and White-browed Woodswallows perched in a group of Acacia salicina
[Eulah Creek, NSW, October 2018]

All four possible morphologies of adult Masked Woodswallows and White-browed Woodswallows seen together: Male Masked Woodswallow, left and female Masked Woodswallow, right, with a pair of White-browed Woodswallows in between; male at the top, female below
[Eulah Creek, NSW, October 2018]

Here some Masked Woodswallow "TLC": Male on the left, preening the female on the right; allopreening is part of a bonding ritual
[Eulah Creek, NSW, October 2018]

Male Masked Woodswallow, bottom right, with a pair of White-browed Woodswallows
[Eulah Creek, NSW, September 2018]

Food, Diet

Adults: Small insects

Dependents: As adults

Water intake: Daily(?)

Like all members of the Artamus family known to us, Masked Woodswallows hunt small insects which they devour in-flight. We have also seen them feed on nectar (see below).

Lateral view of a male Masked Woodswallow taking a cricket (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Windorah, QLD, September 2022]

Male Masked Woodswallow that has learned to take a small caterpillar from a shrub, rather than catching flying insects on the wing
[Hungerford to Bourke Road, NSW, June 2019]

Frontal view of a male Masked Woodswallow, left, and a female White-browed Woodswallow taking nectar from a Grevillea robusta (note the pollen around the base of the bill)
[Eulah Creek, NSW, October 2018]

Frontal view of a female Masked Woodswallow taking nectar from a Grevillea robusta (note the pollen around the base of the bill)
[Eulah Creek, NSW, October 2018]

Masked Woodswallows and White-browed Woodswallows festing on nectar low in a in a Grevillea robusta
[Eulah Creek, NSW, October 2018]

in a Grevillea robusta with a flock of Masked Woodswallows and White-browed Woodswallows festing on its nectar (click on image for high-resolution version to see the many individual birds)
[Eulah Creek, NSW, October 2018]

Part of a mixed flock of (both adult and juvenile) White-browed Woodswallows and Masked Woodswallows seen by us descending onto (and foraging on?) a dry paddock shortly after rainfall
[Eulah Creek, NSW, February 2014]

Small flock of White-browed Woodswallows having a drink, together with a few Masked Woodswallows
(photo courtesy of V. Collins)
[Pilliga scrub, NSW, November 2020]

Small flock of White-browed Woodswallows having a drink, together with a few Masked Woodswallows
(photo courtesy of V. Collins)
[Pilliga scrub, NSW, November 2020]

Masked Woodswallows drinking water together with White-browed Woodswallows
[Pilliga NP, near Wee Waa, NSW, December 2019]

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.

mskswal_20190618_3.m4a	(SW QLD)	Contact call	© MD
mskswal_20190618.m4a	(SW QLD)	Annoyed/warning calls	© MD
mskswal_20190617.m4a	(SW QLD)	Various	© MD
mskswal_20190618_2.m4a	(SW QLD)	Various	© MD
mixwood_20180908_1.m4a	(NW NSW)	Large mixed flock with White-browed Woodswallows	© MD
mixwood_20180908_2.m4a	(NW NSW)	Large mixed flock with White-browed Woodswallows	© MD
mixwood_20190910.m4a	(NW NSW)	Mixed flock with White-browed Woodswallows	© MD

We have recorded the calls of a mixed flock of ca. 200 Masked Woodswallows and White-browed Woodswallows raiding a flowering Grevillea robusta ("Silky Oak") tree.

woodsw_20181029.m4a	(NW NSW)	Flock feeding on nectar	© MD
woodsw_20181029_2.m4a	(NW NSW)	Flock feeding on nectar	© MD

More Masked 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.

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