Australian mudnester
| Australian mudnesters | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| White-winged chough | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Suborder: | Passeri |
| Family: |
Corcoracidae Mathews 1925 |
| Species | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Struthideidae Mathews 1924 |
|
Struthideidae Mathews 1924
Struthideidae is a family of passerine birds known as the Australian mudnesters. The family is often commonly called Corcoracidae, however this is the junior synonym. It contains just two species in two genera, the white-winged chough, Corcorax melanorhamphos, and the apostlebird Struthidea cinerea. Both are endemic to Australia.
Both the Australian mudnesters are found in open habitat in eastern Australia, mostly open eucalypt woodlands and some forest that lacks a closed canopy. The apostlebird is more tolerant of arid habitats and is found in arid woodland and shrublands. Both species are tolerant of human modified habitats and will occupy farmlands and suburban areas, and even parks and gardens.
The two mudnesters are medium-sized passerines, the apostlebird being smaller at around 31 centimetres (12 in) in length and the larger white-winged chough averaging 47 centimetres (19 in). Their morphology is typical of ground feeding passerines; long feathered legs and short, rounded wings. The most noticeable differences between the two species are in the plumage, which is generally dull, and in the bill. The bill of the apostlebird is short and deep, not unlike that of a finch, whereas the bill of the white-winged chough is long and curved, not unlike that of its Old World namesakes, the choughs. The differences in the bills reflect the differences in feeding ecology, with the apostlebirds using theirs for sparrow-like picking whereas the white-winged chough uses its bill to flick leaf litter around.
In the field, the relationship between choughs and apostlebirds is immediately apparent: both species are highly social, spend much of their time foraging through leaf litter with a very distinctive gait, calling to one another almost constantly, and both species respond to a human interloper by flying heavily to a nearby tree, where they wait for the disturbance to pass, often perching close together in twos and threes and allopreening. In picnic grounds and parks these birds may become accustomed to humans and become very tame.
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