Artamus fuscus
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The ashy woodswallow (Artamus fuscus), sometimes also called the ashy swallow-shrike, is a woodswallow which is found in south Asia. Like other woodswallows, it has a short curved bill, a short square tail and long wings. It is usually seen perched in groups, high on powerlines, tall bare trees and most often in areas with a predominance of tall palm trees.
This stocky woodswallow has an ashy grey upperparts with a darker head and a narrow pale band on the rump. The underside is pinkish grey and the short slaty black tail is tipped in white. The finch-like bill is silvery. In flight the long wing looks very broad at the base giving it a very triangular outline. The first primary is very short. The legs are short and the birds usually perch on high vantage points from which they make aerial sallies. There are no geographic variations in plumage and no subspecies have been designated.
Males and females are indistinguishable in the field, however an old report suggests that the sexes differ in the colour of the inside of the mouth. Young birds appear barred on the underside. Woodswallows are found in a range of habitats from the plains... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Khao Yai National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 2 | Sundarbans National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 3 | Kaeng Krachan National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 4 | Cat Tien National Park | 🇻🇳 Vietnam | |
| 5 | Manas National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 6 | Royal Manas National Park | 🇧🇹 Bhutan | |
| 7 | Nagarhole National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 8 | Wilpattu National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 9 | Chitwan National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal | |
| 10 | Periyar National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 11 | Doi Inthanon National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 12 | Kaziranga National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 13 | Bandipur National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 14 | Royal Bardia National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal | |
| 15 | Mudumalai National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 16 | Sinharaja Forest Reserve | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 17 | Jim Corbett National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 18 | Yala National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 19 | Minneriya National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 20 | Udawalawe National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 21 | Satpura National Park | 🇮🇳 India |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report an Ashy Woodswallow sighting in Chennai on a given day, based on 271 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 99th most-seen of the 223 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report an Ashy Woodswallow in Chennai on a given day, against under 5% in April to February, the lowest months. That is one of Chennai's driest months, with about 15 mm of rain against 290 mm in November.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Ashy Woodswallow sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
19th of 28
Of the 28 cities where we can rate Ashy Woodswallow sightings, Chennai ranks 19th at under 5%. The best odds are in Thrissur (India, about 40%), Coimbatore (India, about 20%) and Ponnani (India, about 20%).
Same order: Passeriformes
The closest relatives of the Ashy Woodswallow that you can see in Chennai (order Passeriformes, Perching Birds) are House Crow (about 90%), Large-billed Crow (about 60%) and Common Tailorbird (about 60%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Ashy Woodswallow is recorded against all the birds logged in Chennai (271 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
