Often seen lined up in long rows, perched along overhead wires, the White-breasted Woodswallow is a common sight in the late afternoon in many rural towns and cities.
The White-breasted Woodswallow is a medium-sized bird with a dark grey head and neck. It has dark blue-grey upperparts, tail and wings, white underparts and underwings. The bill is bluish, tipped black and the eye is dark brown. Young birds tend to be mottled brown on the upperparts with a creamy tinge to the white undeparts and have a thin cream eyebrow. This species can be seen in flocks of 10 to 50, even up to 100, birds. These flocks may cluster together day or night in roosts.
Brassy chirps: ‘pirrt, pirrt’; loud chattering and quiet twittering; some mimicry. Bird call recorded by: James Lambert
The White-breasted Woodswallow is found from northern coastal Western Australia, across the Kimberley region into the Northern Territory, and through most of Queensland, New South Wales (but not on the south coast), western Victoria and north-eastern South Australia. It is also found in Indonesia, New Guinea to Fiji and the Philippines.
Habitat: Woodland, Forest, Wetland
The White-breasted Woodswallow is found in eucalypt forests and woodlands, usually close to water, and in mangroves.
When perched, they often fan and twist their tails in a cork-screw fashion, especially just after alighting. They often launch from these perches, rapidly and gracefully flapping and gliding as they sally for flying insects. Insects are caught in the bill, but large ones are sometimes transferred to the bird’s feet while flying, before returning to a perch. They are partially migratory with birds in the south moving northwards in the cooler months.
The White-breasted Woodswallow feeds on insects, catching them on the wing. Will also forage on the ground or in canopy. Like other woodswallows, this species has a divided, brush-tipped tongue that can be used to feed on nectar from flowers.
The White-breasted Woodswallow builds a shallow, bowl-shaped nest from grasses, roots and twigs, lined with fine grass. The nest is placed in a tree fork, hollow stump or inside the abandoned nest of a Magpie-lark, 4 m – 30 m off the ground. Both sexes build the nest, incubate the eggs and feed the young.
