Ashy Wood swallow

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 curve bill and a short square tail and long wings. It is usually seen perched in groups, high on power lines, tall bare trees and most often in areas with a predominance of tall palm trees. Woodswallows are found in a range of habitats from the plains to about 2000 m, over cultivated areas, in forest clearings and often in areas with tall palm trees. The species is widely distributed across India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Burma, Laos, Malaysia and China. They are absent in the very arid regions of western India. They have been recorded on the island of Maldives.
Ashy woodswallows are usually seen in small groups. Several birds may sit huddled side-by-side on the bare branches of a tall tree or on high vantage points such as powerlines and pylons. From their perches, they make aerial sallies, flapping and gliding to capture insects in the air. Insects may be caught in the beak, transferred and held in their feet, torn up with their bill and swallowed without returning to the perch. They may also return to the perch with prey to feed and will sometimes sit on the ground and have been known to visit bird baths.[7][8] Although mainly feeding on insects, they may take nectar from flowers of trees such as Erythrina. They have been recorded feeding on toxic butterflies of the family Danaiidae such as Euploea core which are avoided by other birds.