Woodswallows, bellmagpies and allies | Artamidae

Spitsvogels, orgelvogels en verwanten | Artámidos

Two very different kinds of bird in one family. The woodswallows have long, pointed wings, soar for hours on thermals and take insects on the wing; they are the only songbirds outside the honeyeaters with a brush-tipped tongue, and at night and in cold weather dozens of them creep into a cluster against a trunk, one over another. The butcherbirds, currawongs and the Australian Magpie are heavily built, with a straight bill hooked at the tip; they feed on the ground, forage walking, and wedge larger prey into a fork or onto a thorn to pull it apart. The song of the Australian Magpie consists of long, flowing sequences performed by a group in turn, two birds interlocking their phrases so tightly that they sound like one bird; that song marks out a territory a group holds for years. In the breeding season a few birds defend that ground against anything that passes.