White-backed Swallows Cheramoeca leucosternus are by no means common locally. In fact in recent years I have only observed them at one site, between Spring Hill Track and Gully Track, where they routinely use a tall, dead eucalypts as a perch between feeding sallies.
White-backed Swallow, Muckleford State Forest, 23rd February 2012.
Superficially similar to other swallows and martins they share a forked tail with the Welcome Swallow but have a white back, mantle and head. They fly not quite as swiftly, but with equal skill. The martins, including the Tree Martin pictured below have short, square tails and pale rumps. The small flock of White-backed Swallows numbered ~ 8 birds and was mingling with a similar number of Tree Martins, making it a nice identification challenge at first.
Note the dark head on this Tree Martin that was perched nearby.
Many years ago White-backed Swallows bred in a pile of sand at the Rise and Shine. They excavate nesting tunnels in gullies and sand banks to breed, or use sites abandoned by birds such as Rainbow Bee-eaters. In central Australia they are reputed to use the former burrows of bilbies and bettongs!
An ordinary photo showing the characteristic upper-parts of the White-backed Swallow.
A yawning White-backed Swallow shows that it's perfectly adapted to catching flying insects!
Geoff Park
listeningearth
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EJ
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john1055283
congratulations on the photo of the swallow with its mouth wide open, I like the caption too. I think that sometimes a photo does not tell the whole story until the caption is added. In this case, I think that I may not have realized the evolutional significance of the size of the mouth if I had not read the caption.Obviously, a big mouth means more food available.