The White-browed Woodswallow (Artamus superciliosus) is a moderately-sized passerine

Passerine

A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders: with over 5,000 identified species, it has roughly...

 bird

Bird

Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...

 native to inland Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. Like all woodswallow

Woodswallow

Woodswallows are soft-plumaged, somber-coloured passerine birds. There is a single genus, Artamus, The woodswallows are either treated as a subfamily, Artaminae in an expanded family Artamidae, which includes the butcherbirds and Australian Magpie, or as the only genus in that family...

s, it has a brush-tipped tongue but feeds almost exclusively on flying insect

Insect

Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...

s.

White-browed Woodswallows are highly nomadic. Pairs, small parties, and sometimes flocks of thousands wander irregularly around inland Australia, often trending north to winter in the Northern Territory

Northern Territory

The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...

 and central Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

, and south in spring to nest. Their heartland is the area centered on the Murray-Darling Basin

Murray-Darling Basin

The Murray-Darling basin is a large geographical area in the interior of southeastern Australia, whose name is derived from its two major rivers, the Murray River and the Darling River. It drains one-seventh of the Australian land mass, and is currently by far the most significant agricultural...

, but they range far beyond this area, and in drought years frequently reach coastal south-east Australia. They are uncommon in Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

 but small numbers regularly associate with flocks of the Masked Woodswallow

Masked Woodswallow

The Masked Woodswallow is a species of bird in the Artamidae family.It is found in Australia and New Zealand.Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests.-References:...

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External links

• ABID Images
• White-browed Woodswallow videos, photos & sounds on the Internet Bird Collection