What is "artamidae"

Artamidae \Artamidae\ n. 1. 1 a natural family comprising the wood swallows.

Syn: family Artamidae.

Artamidae is a family of passerine birds found in Australia, the Indo-Pacific region, and Southern Asia. It includes 23 extant species in four genera and two subfamilies: Artaminae (with only one genus, the woodswallows) and Cracticinae ( currawongs, butcherbirds, and the Australian magpie). Artamids used to be monotypic, containing only the woodswallows, but it was expanded to include the family Cracticidae in 1994. Some authors, however, still treat the two as separate families. Some species, known for their beautiful song, are in this family. Their feeding habits vary from the harmless nector sucking of the woodswallows to the fearless predation on small birds from the pied currawong.