Throughout most of Australia except desert regions, the south-est, and the southern parts of South Australia and the extreme south of Western Australia.
Pied Butcherbird (Cracticus nigrogularis) [XC691016]
by Peter Boesman from Lee Point, Darwin Municipality, Northern Territory, Australia (song)
Pied Butcherbird (Cracticus nigrogularis) [XC499887]
by James Lambert from Aspley, Brisbane City, Queensland, Australia (call)
Breeding Season (Guide)
August - November in the south, May - June in the tropics.
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Nest
Open, fairly deep, composed of sticks and twigs, lined with dried grass and rootlets, usually in an upright fork of a tree, up to about 10 - 12 meters above the ground.
Eggs (Guide)
3 - 5; dull, green, spotted with brown or black; oval; about 33 x 24 mm. Incubation: about 19 - 20 days.
Young
Altricial, nidicolous. Fledge in about 25 - 31 days.
Subspecies
Forms superspecies with Hooded Butcherbird (Cracticus cassicus) and Tagula Butcherbird (Cracticus louisiadensis). Subspecies intergrade in northern Queensland (south-central Cape York Peninsula south to upper Georgina R and Diamantina R). Geographical variation partly clinal in western (subspecies picatus), with gradual decrease in size from south to north. Birds from western and central Australia sometimes recognized as subspecies kalgoorli (described from Kalgoorlie, in southern Western Australia), but probably part of this cline.
The following 2 subspecies are recognised:
nigrogularis (Gould, 1837) - Eastern Australia from northern, central and eastern Queensland south to eastern South Australia and northern Victoria (Murray R).
.
picatus Gould, 1848 - Northern and western Australia east to north-western Queensland, south (except in main desert areas) to southern western Australia and north-western South Australia.
Similar Species
Black-backed Butcherbird (Cracticus mentalis) which has a white throat, and a narrow white collar.
References
See References.
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
More... see more information (images, calls, videos etc)
(6Kb) © ? (
BirdLife International Species Factsheet