Fiji Woodswallow
Artamus mentalis Jardine, 1845
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 Fiji woodswallow (Artamus mentalis) is a species of woodswallow in the family Artamidae. It is endemic to most of the islands of Fiji, although it is absent from Kadavu Archipelago and the Lau Archipelago. The species was once considered a race of the white-breasted woodswallow, which breeds from Australia, New Caledonia and Vanuatu through to Borneo and the Philippines. Some authors retain it in that species.
The Fiji woodswallow is a chunky bird 18 centimetres (7 in) long with a heavy black-tipped blue bill. The plumage is sooty dark above, with a white belly, rump and throat. It is distinguished from the white-breasted woodswallow by the amount of white on the throat, which in the Fiji woodswallow comes up to the level of the bill.
Wikipedia contributors, Fiji woodswallow; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T05:25:49.648420+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Artamus mentalis Jardine, 1845
- Name authority
- Jardine, 1845
- Common name
- Fiji 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 mentalis Jardine, 1845
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 |
| Black-faced WoodswallowArtamus cinereus Vieillot, 1817 | ArtamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Great WoodswallowArtamus maximus A. B. Meyer, 1874 | 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=558764 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:GVGT. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.