Black-faced Woodswallow
Artamus cinereus Vieillot, 1817
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The black-faced woodswallow (Artamus cinereus) is a woodswallow of the genus Artamus native to Australia, New Guinea, and the Sunda Islands, including Timor. It is 18–19 cm (7.1–7.5 in) long and is the most widespread species in the family Artamidae. Woodswallows have a soft call with chiff, chap and chattering calls which can include vocal mimicry
Increased vegetation due to inappropriate fire regimes has caused the woodswallows numbers to decline since 1993 in the Cape York Peninsula.
Wikipedia contributors, Black-faced woodswallow; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T07:57:01.230964+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Artamus cinereus Vieillot, 1817
- Name authority
- Vieillot, 1817
- Common name
- Black-faced Woodswallow
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Artamidae
- Genus
- Artamus
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyArtamidae Vigors, 1825
- genusArtamus Vieillot, 1816
- speciesArtamus cinereus Vieillot, 1817
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Artamus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Little WoodswallowArtamus minor Vieillot, 1817 | ArtamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Great WoodswallowArtamus maximus A. B. Meyer, 1874 | ArtamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Fiji WoodswallowArtamus mentalis Jardine, 1845 | ArtamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| White-browed WoodswallowArtamus superciliosus (Gould, 1837) | ArtamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=558759 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:GVGK. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.