Artamidae
| Artamidae | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Pied butcherbird | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Superfamily: | Malaconotoidea |
| Family: | Artamidae |
| Subfamilies | |
Artamidae is a family of passerine birds found in Australia, the Indo-Pacific region, and Southern Asia. It includes 23 extant species in four genera and two subfamilies: Artaminae (with only one genus, the woodswallows) and Cracticinae (currawongs, butcherbirds, and the Australian magpie). Artamids used to be monotypic, containing only the woodswallows, but it was expanded to include the family Cracticidae in 1994. Some authors, however, still treat the two as separate families. Some species, known for their beautiful song, are in this family. Their feeding habits vary from the harmless nector sucking of the woodswallows to the fearless predation on small birds from the pied currawong.
The Artamids are part of the Malaconotoidea superfamily, consisting of a vast diversity of omnivores and carnivorous songbirds wide spread through Australasia. Artamids has been divided over time into two subfamilies. With little studies and dispute on the inclusion of Cracticidae to the Artamidae family, it appears they have been placed in this respective joint position due to lack of evidence or knowledge. Jerome Fuchs and colleagues extensively analysed both the mitochondrial and nuclear DNA of the Artamid family. The results suggested that the group may have existed in Australasia for 33.7 to 45 million years, dating back to the late Eocene
Artamid species occur throughout Australasia with most species occurring in Australia and New Guinea. The social interactions of Artamids vary from the solitary black butcherbird, who lives alone or in a single pair, to the white-breasted woodswallow who lives in flocks or loose colonies. While some species are sedentary, staying close to suburbia and ample food sources, others are migratory or even nomadic like the Masked woodswallow, moving around in response to changes in climate such as rainfall or temperature. Their range of habitats varies between species but most will adapt to rain forests, woodlands, coastal scrubs (swallows), water courses, playing fields, pastoral lands and paperbark mangroves (butcher birds). One of their greatest abilities is to adapt to urban landscapes where they contend with fragmented and degraded remnants of native vegetation.
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Wikipedia