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22

Black Butcherbird (Cracticus quoyi) Alternate name(s): "Rufous Crow-shrike", "Black Crow-shrike" Aboriginal name(s): Race "rufescens": "galbu" [ngadjon] Size: 38-44 cm Weight: 125-220 g; race "spaldingi": 180-220 g; race "rufescens": 125-175 g

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 Common Cicadabird (Australasian) Yellow Oriole Olive-backed Oriole 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 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" is found along 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. 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.

Photos

Race "spaldingi"

ADULT

Sex unknown

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

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

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

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

Race "rufescens"

ADULT

Sex unknown

Near-frontal/ventral view of a Black Butcherbird (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]

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

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 (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Gunshot Creek, Cape York peninsula, QLD, August 2019]

Near-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]

Food, Diet

Black Butcherbird living up to its name, bringing an 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

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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Disclaimer: Comments are always welcome. We give no guarantee that the information presented on these pages is always correct or up-to-date. External links are marked as such and we take no responsibility for the contents of external pages. All images on this site are protected by copyright & used by permission of the respective owners. If you wish to reproduce them or any of the material presented on this web site, please contact us: We hereby acknowledge the original custodians of the land which is described on these pages, including the Gomeroi/Gamilaraay people of the North-west Slopes and Plains of NSW, and the traditional owners of other lands and nations within this country. We acknowledge elders past, present and emerging. Sovereignty was never ceded.          Last updated: Wed, 30 March 2022, 1:47 +00:00