Category Archives: Butcherbird
Pied Butcherbird makes 3 out of 4
There are four types of Butcherbird in Australia: Grey Butcherbirds, Black Butcherbirds, Black-backed Butcherbirds, and Pied Butcherbirds. Grey Butcherbirds are common on Australia’s east coast, where I live. I’ve seen a Black Butcherbird when travelling in the far north of Australia. And now, travelling west of Sydney into the Outback, I spotted a Pied Butcherbird. Three out of four ain’t bad!
![](https://sydneybirder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/mungo-pied-butcherbird-img_6592-cropped-small.jpg?w=1000)
The white collar of this bird extends in a straight line, all the way round the back of the neck, whereas the Grey Butcherbird’s collar is narrower and doesn’t go all the way round.
Common name: Pied Butcherbird
Scientific name: Cracticus nigrogularis
Approximate length: 33-36 cm
Date spotted: 21 May 2024 (autumn)
Location: Mungo Lodge, Mungo National Park, New South Wales, Australia: 33°44’31.4″S 143°00’06.1″E
Black Butcherbird in Far North Queensland
A few days ago, I was visiting Port Douglas in Far North Queensland. Many of the birds up there have quite different calls from those further south. This Black Butcherbird is an example:
As you can see, the lighting was difficult. I did manage to get a couple of clearer still shots of the bird:
![](https://sydneybirder.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/port-douglas-black-butcherbird-img_0334.jpg?w=1024)
Black Butcherbirds are, as the name implies, entirely black. In Australia, they’re found only in the far north of the continent. Down near Sydney, where I’m based, I’ve only ever seen the Grey Butcherbird, which has a lot of white and grey as well as black plumage. According to my bird book, some Black Butcherbirds (the rulescens race) can be brownish as juveniles.
This is my first sighting of a Black Butcherbird! Here’s another picture of the same bird in full song:
![](https://sydneybirder.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/port-douglas-black-butcherbird-img_0335.jpg?w=1024)
Common name: Black Butcherbird
Scientific name: Cracticus quoyi
Approximate length: 38-44 cm
Date spotted: 17 May 2022 (autumn)
Location: Port Douglas, Far North Queensland, Australia: 16°30’42.2″S 145°27’44.2″E
Grey Butcherbird on blue sky
A Grey Butcherbird posed on a dead tree branch against an autumn-clear sky:
Butcherbirds are one of the types of black-and-white birds that frequent our area. They’re smaller than magpies and currawongs. When you manage to get a close-up view of a butcherbird’s beak, you notice the hook on the end. Magpies and currawongs have straight beaks without a hook:
Butcherbirds eat lizards, mice, small birds, insects, and other small creatures. The next photo shows the bird spotting some small creature in the scrub below. After I captured this shot, the bird swooped down then returned to its perch without its prey.
Common name: Grey Butcherbird
Scientific name: Cracticus torquatus
Approximate length: 30 cm
Date spotted: 8 May 2020 (autumn)
Location: Manly Dam National Park, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’33.1″S 151°14’47.9″E
Butcherbird has whiskers!
A few butcherbirds are frequenting my area at the moment. This one is a Grey Butcherbird:
When it tilted its head, I noticed some dark whiskers below its eye:
When it looked upwards, I could make out the whiskers on both sides of its beak:
A full-frontal gaze shows off the white patches (lores) in front of its eyes:
A yawn shows its tongue off nicely:
Here’s a profile to close the post. The hook on the end of the beak is for stabbing prey, which the butcherbird then hangs on a branch or a fence until it’s ready to eat:
Common name: Grey Butcherbird
Scientific name: Cracticus torquatus
Approximate length: 30 cm
Date spotted: 5 January 2019 (Summer)
Location: Allambie Heights, New South Wales, Australia