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Black Butcherbird (Melloria [Cracticus] quoyi) Alternate name(s): "Rufous Crow-shrike", "Black Crow-shrike" Aboriginal name(s): Race "rufescens": "galbu" [ngadjon] Size: 38-44 cm; wing span: 50-60 cm Body mass: 125-220 g; race "spaldingi": 160-220 g; race "rufescens": 123-163 g race "jardini": 150-165 g Wing loading [g/cm2]: 0.28-0.36 (overall)

Australia: Family Group 22 Family Group 22 Table White-winged Triller Varied Triller Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike Barred Cuckoo-shrike Ground Cuckoo-shrike Sahul Cicadabird (Australasian) Yellow Oriole Olive-backed Oriole Australasian Figbird White-breasted Woodswallow Masked Woodswallow White-browed Woodswallow Black-faced Woodswallow Dusky Woodswallow Little Woodswallow Black Butcherbird Grey Butcherbird Silver-backed Butcherbird Black-backed Butcherbird Pied Butcherbird Australian Magpie Black Currawong Grey Currawong Pied Currawong Thumbnails page Family group table Index of bird names Habitat pages Key plants Birds home page

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Black Butcherbirds are the largest Australian butcherbirds. They are the closest relatives to the (more well-known) Australian Magpie. Their size depends on race. All adults are bluish-black throughout, with a long, grey, prominently hooked bill with a darker grey tip. The eyes have dark-brown irises. The legs and feet are dark-grey. The juveniles of all races except one are dull-black. Only race "rufescens" has juveniles of a second, rufous morphology, which has a light-rufous front and a rufous back streaked with brown.

Taxonomy, classification See Black Butcherbird at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Black Butcherbird is available HERE . Black Butcherbirds populate West Papua (eastern Indonesia), New Guinea and parts of the northern coastal fringe of Australia. Race "spaldingi" can be found along the coastal fringe of the Top End of the NT, from the NT/WA border to north-eastern Arnhemland, and some offshore islands to the North. Endemic race "jardini" populates the coastal fringe (both East and West) of Cape York peninsula, QLD, as far South as about Port Douglas, QLD. Farther South along the QLD coastline, up to the tropic of Capricorn, endemic race "rufescens" is found. Race "alecto" is not present on the Australian continent, but only on islands along Torres Strait and farther North. Black Butcherbirds have a preference for rainforest, mangrove and other dense growth.

Sightings Click here for sighting information Race "spaldingi" B. Hensen reports spotting Black Butcherbirds, race "spaldingi", at Leanyer Sewage Treatment Plant, Darwin, NT, in March 2013. We first spotted Black Butcherbirds, race "spaldingi", at East Point, Darwin, NT, in August 2014. P. Brown reports finding Black Butcherbirds, race "spaldingi", at East Point, Darwin, NT, in August 2018, and at Fannie Bay, Darwin, NT, in July 2019. Race "rufescens" B. Hensen spotted Black Butcherbirds, race "rufescens", at Rocky Creek, Cairns, QLD, in July 2013. B. Collett reports Black Butcherbirds, race "rufescens", breeding at Edge Hill, Cairns, QLD, in the timeframe November/December 2016. M. Eaton found a Black Butcherbird, race "rufescens", in Cairns, QLD, in July 2018, and another along the Daintree River, QLD, in December 2018. A pair was found nesting at Centenary Lakes, Cairns, QLD, in October 2024. A. Lee reports seeing Black Butcherbird, race "rufescens", regularly at East Russell, near Cairns, QLD. Race "jardini" M. Mearns reports spotting Black Butcherbirds, race "jardini", in Cooktown, QLD, in September 2008. B. Hensen reports finding Black Butcherbirds, race "jardini", in Mossman, QLD, in November 2018. M. Eaton spotted a Black Butcherbird, race "jardini", at Gunshot Creek, Cape York peninsula, QLD, in August 2019. Others were found at Kutini Payamu (Iron Range) NP, Cape York peninsula, QLD, in June 2024.

Photos

Race "spaldingi"

ADULT

Sex unknown

Frontal/ventral view of a Black Butcherbird
[East Point Reserve, Darwin, NT, August 2014]

Frontal/ventral view of a Black Butcherbird looking sideways
[East Point Reserve, Darwin, NT, August 2014]

Near-frontal view of a Black Butcherbird looking sideways (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[East Point Reserve, Darwin, NT, August 2018]

Partly obscured near-lateral view of a Black Butcherbird; this is the bird whose calls were recorded on 21 July 2019
(photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Fannie Bay, Darwin, NT, July 2019]

Near-lateral/ventral view of a Black Butcherbird
[East Point Reserve, Darwin, NT, August 2014]

Lateral view of a Black Butcherbird (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Leanyer Sewage Treatment Plant, Darwin, NT, March 2013]

Near-dorsal view of a Black Butcherbird looking sideways (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Rapid Creek, Darwin, NT, May 2018]

Near-dorsal/ventral view of a Black Butcherbird looking sideways
[East Point Reserve, Darwin, NT, August 2014]

Race "rufescens"

ADULT

Sex unknown

Frontal view of a Black Butcherbird (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Centenary Lakes, Cairns, QLD, October 2024]

Frontal view of a Black Butcherbird looking sideways (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Centenary Lakes, Cairns, QLD, October 2024]

Near-frontal view of a Black Butcherbird (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Centenary Lakes, Cairns, QLD, October 2024]

Near-frontal view of a Black Butcherbird (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Centenary Lakes, Cairns, QLD, October 2024]

Near-frontal/ventral view of a Black Butcherbird looking sideways (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Rocky Creek, Cairns, QLD, July 2013]

Near-lateral view of a Black Butcherbird (photo courtesy of A. Lee)
[East Russell, near Cairns, QLD, October 2020]

Near-lateral view of a Black Butcherbird (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Centenary Lakes, Cairns, QLD, October 2024]

Lateral view of a Black Butcherbird (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Rocky Creek, Cairns, QLD, July 2013]

Near-dorsal view of a Black Butcherbird (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Centenary Lakes, Cairns, QLD, October 2024]

Near-dorsal/ventral view of a Black Butcherbird (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Daintree River, QLD, December 2018]

Dorsal view of a Black Butcherbird (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Rocky Creek, Cairns, QLD, July 2013]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Frontal view of a rufous-morphology juvenile Black Butcherbird (photo courtesy of B. Collett)
[Edge Hill, Cairns, QLD, December 2016]

Black Butcherbird with a begging rufous-morphology juvenile (photo courtesy of B. Collett)
[Edge Hill, Cairns, QLD, December 2016]

Race "jardini"

ADULT

Near-frontal view of a Black Butcherbird looking sideways (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Gunshot Creek, Cape York peninsula, QLD, August 2019]

Lateral view of a Black Butcherbird (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Mossman, QLD, November 2018]

Lateral view of a Black Butcherbird (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Gunshot Creek, Cape York peninsula, QLD, August 2019]

Near-dorsal view of a Black Butcherbird (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Gunshot Creek, Cape York peninsula, QLD, August 2019]

Breeding information

Breeding season: Sep - Feb

Eggs: 3 - 4

Incubation period: ca. 25 days

Fledging age: ?

The core breeding season is from October to January. A pair of Black Butcherbirds may keep their young with them for so long that, as first-year immature birds, they help bring up the next brood. It is also unusual for a species of butcherbird to be able to, in some cases, breed while still in first-year immature plumage. Incubation period and fledging age are poorly studied.

Nest

"bungobittah", "lar", "malunna", "jindi" [bundjalung] = nest [Aboriginal]

Type: Basket

Material: Sticks, with rootlet lining

Height above ground: 5 - 10 m

The height range listed in the table above refers to nests in trees on land. Black Butcherbirds can also nest in mangrove, in which case the nest is about 2 m above the high water line.

Near-dorsal/ventral view of a Black Butcherbird on its nest (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Centenary Lakes, Cairns, QLD, October 2024]

Eggs

"boyanga", "booyanga", "derinya", "dirandil", "koomura", "mirk", "ngampu", "nooluk", "pateena", "pum-pum" = Egg; "dirundirri" = eggs [Aboriginal]; "gawu" = eggs [gamilaraay]

Size: 33 x 24 mm

Colour: Greyish-brown, with dark-brown speckles

Shape: Tapered oval

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Territorial

Mobility: Sedentary

Elementary unit: Solitary/pair

Food, Diet

Black Butcherbird living up to its name, bringing a hapless juvenile Comb-crested Jacana into a tree...
(photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Mossman, QLD, November 2018]

Black Butcherbird living up to its name, wedging a juvenile Comb-crested Jacana in a fork... (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Mossman, QLD, November 2018]

Black Butcherbird living up to its name, "butchering" a juvenile Comb-crested Jacana by tearing pieces out of the wedged-in carcass (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Mossman, QLD, November 2018]

Call(s)/Song

For this species we have recorded the following call(s)/song. The interpretation of their meaning is our own; comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome.

blbutch_pb_20191206_2.m4a	spaldingi (Darwin, NT)	Contact call(?)	© PB
blbutch_pb_20191206_5.m4a	spaldingi (Darwin, NT)	Contact calls(?), Q&A	© PB
blbutch_pb_20180831.m4a	spaldingi (Darwin, NT)	Contact calls(?), Q&A	© PB
blbutch_pb_20191206_4.m4a	spaldingi (Darwin, NT)	"Currawong-like" call	© PB
blbutch_pb_20190721.m4a	spaldingi (Darwin, NT)	"Currawong-like" calls	© PB
blbutch_pb_20180831_2.m4a	spaldingi (Darwin, NT)	"Babbling"	© PB
blbutch_pb_20191206_3.m4a	spaldingi (Darwin, NT)	Various (6 foraging in mangrove)	© PB
blbutch_pb_20191206.m4a	spaldingi (Darwin, NT)	Various (6 foraging in mangrove)	© PB
blbutch_pb_20200415.m4a	spaldingi (Darwin, NT)	Various (going to roost)	© PB
blbutch_pb_20200415_2.m4a	spaldingi (Darwin, NT)	Various (going to roost)	© PB
blbutch_pb_20180831_3.m4a	spaldingi (Darwin, NT)	Various	© PB
blbutch_pb_20210206.m4a	spaldingi (Darwin, NT)	Various	© PB
intract_pb_20180503.m4a	spaldingi (Darwin, NT)	? (Alarming Spangled Drongo & Magpie-lark)	© PB
blbutch_pb_20200319.m4a	spaldingi (Top End, NT)	Immature practising?	© PB
blbutch_pb_20180503.m4a	spaldingi (Darwin, NT)	?	© PB
blbutch_me_20240613.m4a	jardini (Far-N QLD)	Territorial call(?)	© ME
blbutch_me_20240613_2.m4a	jardini (Far-N QLD)	Territorial call(?)	© ME
blbutch_me_20240614.m4a	jardini (Far-N QLD)	"Currawong-like" calls	© ME

More Black Butcherbird sound recordings are available at xeno-canto.org .

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

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