Woodswallows around
Adult and juvenile Dusky Woodswallows
Dusky Woodswallows have recently arrived back at our place near Strath Creek after a lengthy absence. The flock includes a number of streaked juvenile birds still being fed. They are a joy to watch with their aerobatics and their habit of snuggling up in groups when perching, often preening each other. Like most woodswallows, they are communal and gather together in clusters to roost at night along a branch or in large tree hollows.
The most nomadic of the woodswallows are the White-browed and Masked Woodswallows which may turn up in large numbers, often in mixed flocks – we had 30 or more White-browed Woodswallows lined up along our clothes-line one October day in 2002 – an impressive sight !
The white marking along the outer edge of the wing distinguishes the Dusky Woodswallow from all other woodswallows. Its calls can be heard by clicking on the arrow on the sound bar below.
Young Dusky Woodswallow
Feeding time
Part of the gang
Focus On Fauna 
Hi macwake, Interesting observations. There are usually several groups of Dusky Woodswallows somewhere in our patch of bush (24 ha) during the summer months. They generally locate themselves (roost & feed) in the forest, so we’d only see them occasionally when in the bush. But they’ve clearly had a few bumper seasons and this year there have been Dusky Woodswallows all over the place – their twittering (real twittering) can be heard almost constantly and has replaced that of the Welcome Swallows, which seem to have pretty much disappeared. At our place, it’s been the Summer of the Dusky Woodswallow. And they are gorgeous little birds.
Thanks for your comments Bert. We know what you mean by their real twittering – the recorded sounds on the post seem to be mostly the begging/contact calls of the juveniles. The Welcome Swallows also seem to have gone from around here lately.