** Corcoracidae: White-winged Chough and Apostlebird

The Australian White-winged Chough, Corcorax melanorhamphos, despite its similar shape and habits, is only distantly related to the true choughs, and is an example of convergent evolution.

The Australian White-winged Chough, Corcorax melanorhamphos, despite its similar bill shape and black plumage, is only distantly related to the true choughs.

The White-winged Chough ( Corcorax melanorhamphos ) is one of only two surviving members of the Australian mud-nest builders family, Corcoracidae, and is the only member of the genus Corcorax.

The White-winged Chough is a large, black bird — at about 45 cm ( 18 in ) only a little smaller than a raven or a little larger than an Australian Magpie — but has red eyes and a finer, slightly down-curved beak, similar to a European Chough.

The White-winged Chough will forage in litter and rotten wood for termites and beetles.

The diet is varied, the White-winged Chough eats seeds of various grasses ( Poaceae ), Gahnia grandis, Atriplex, Epacris, Hibbertia, Solanum, Acacia and Exocarpos species, as well as introduced species such as the Cursed Thistle ( Cirsium arvense ), Roadside thistle ( C. vulgare ), Winter Honeysuckle ( Lonicera fragrantissima ), Convulvulus and Oxalis species.

* White-winged Chough videos, photos & sounds on the Internet Bird Collection

* Corcorax melanorhamphos White-winged Chough

# REDIRECT White-winged Chough

The White-winged Chough of Australia, despite its name, is a member of the family Corcoracidae and only distantly related.

The Australian White-winged Chough, Corcorax melanorhamphos, despite its similar shape and habits, is only distantly related to the true choughs, and is an example of convergent evolution.

It contains just two species in two genera, the White-winged Chough, Corcorax melanorhamphos, and the Apostlebird Struthidea cinerea.

The two mudnesters are medium sized passerines, the Apsotlebird being smaller at around in length and the larger White-winged Chough averaging.

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.

The number of birds in the group may vary from two to twenty birds, six birds being typical in the White-winged Chough and seven to nine birds in the Apostlebird.

* White-winged Chough, Corcorax melanorhamphos

* White-winged Chough & Apostlebird videos, photos & sounds on the Internet Bird Collection

The Magpie-lark, for example, was assigned to the same family as the White-winged Chough, since both build unusual nests from mud rather than vegetable matter.

# REDIRECT White-winged Chough

It is one of two remaining species, with the White-winged Chough ( Corcorax melanorhamphos ), which differs in appearance but exhibits many behavioural similarities.

* the White-winged Chough ( Corcorax melanorhamphos )

There is one report of White-winged Choughs occupying and using a nest which was likely to have been built by the Australian Magpie.

There was a similar bird on Moorea which differed in some minor details from P. leucoptera, notably the larger extent of white in the wing, and has been described as White-winged Sandpiper ( P. ellisi ).

The White-winged Sandpiper, Prosobonia ellisi, is an extinct member of the large wader family Scolopacidae that was endemic to the Moorea in French Polynesia, where the locals called it te-te in the Tahitian language.

The White-winged Scoter was named for French zoologist Dr. Côme-Damien Degland ( 1787 – 1856 ).

On 11 January 2007 a White-winged Crossbill was found dead in the parking lot at Long Pine Key Picnic Area in Everglades National Park, Florida.

Historically, the White-winged Duck was widely distributed from north-east India and Bangladesh, through South East Asia to Java and Sumatra.

These include the enigmatic southern population of the White-winged Tit ( Parus nuchalis ), a specimen of which was collected by R. C. Morris and now housed in the Natural History museum at Tring.

Lac de Guiers is designated an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International ; the key species are Lesser Flamingo Phoeniconaias minor, Glossy Ibis Plegadis falcinellus, Eurasian Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia, African Spoonbill Platalea alba, White-winged Tern Chlidonias leucopterus and River Prinia Prinia fluviatilis.

Two juvenile birds at Chew Valley Lake, England, in September 1978 and September 1981, were also believed to be hybrids ; they showed mixed characters of the two species, specifically a combination of a dark mantle ( a feature of White-winged Black ) with dark patches on the breast-side ( a feature of Black Tern, not shown by White-winted Black ).

The name ' White-winged Tern ' is the standard in most English-speaking countries ; in Britain, this name is also the one used by the formal ornithological recording authorities, but the older alternative ' White-winged Black Tern ' is still frequent in popular use.

Two juvenile birds at Chew Valley Lake, England, in September 1978 and September 1981, were also believed to be hybrids ; they showed mixed characters of the two species, specifically a combination of a dark mantle ( a feature of White-winged Black ) with dark patches on the breast-side ( a feature of Black Tern, not shown by White-winted Black ).

The reservoir has been visited by many scarce and rare migrant birds, including White-winged Black Tern ( 1970, 1974, 1992, 1999 ), Whiskered Tern ( 1969 ), Caspian Tern ( 1968, 1992 ), Spotted Crake and Spotted Sandpiper ( 1982 ).

The grasslands of semi-evergreen forest is also inhabited by leopard, elephant, barasingha or swamp deer, barking deer, wild boar, hog deer, bison, otter, Hoolock Gibbon, Golden langur, wild water buffalo, capped langur, pygmy hog, bear, grey-headed fish eagle, Pallas's Fish Eagle, Crested serpent eagle, Swamp partridge, Red jungle fowl, Bengal florican, Whistling Teal, Pelican, Red-breasted Parakeet, Black-necked stork, Adjutant Stork, Open-bill stork, Egret, Heron, White-winged wood duck, Rock python, monitor lizard, turtle and other commonly found species.

White-winged Swallows are easily distinguished from the related Tree Swallow, which has occurred within its range, by the white in the wings ; this is lacking in the otherwise quite similar Tree Swallows.

Two ( probably ) specimens taken on Moorea by William Anderson between September 30 and October 11, 1777, formed the basis for the description of the White-winged Sandpiper.

* Green-tailed Warbler, Yellow-breasted Chat, and White-winged Warbler are other species where there have been questions as to whether they should be considered as warblers or tanagers.

These helpers are important in breeding success, so much so that White-winged Choughs have been reported to kidnap nearly fledged chicks from other groups in order to increase the size of the kidnapping group.

Primates such as Assamese Macaque, pig-tailed Macaque, stump-tailed Macaque, Hoolock Gibbon, Ape besides other mammals ( Elephant, Asian black bear, Indian bison, Deer ), birds ( White-winged wood duck, Great Indian hornbill, Jungle fowl, Pheasant ) and reptiles also add to the rich fauna diversity.

The White-winged Wood Duck, on the other hand-which has sometimes been allied with the enigmatic Hartlaub's Duck ( Madge & Burns, 1987 )-should according to the molecular analysis moved to its old genus, Asarcornis, and could in fact be a peculiar diving duck.

Another endangered bird of the coast is the Whooping Crane ( Grus americana ) while other birds include Least Grebe, White-collared Seedeater ( Sporophila morelleti ), Red-billed Pigeon ( Columba flavirostris ), Brown Jay ( Cyanocorax morio ), Neotropic Cormorant, White-winged Dove ( Leptotila verrequxi ) and Audubon's Oriole ( Icterus graduacauda ).