Grey Butcherbird
(Cracticus torquatus)
2 of 2 photos
This bird is semi tame. He comes in each morning and afternoon for a
handout
of minced meat and he will eat it out of our hands...though we have to
be
careful of that hook on his beak. :-)
The adult Grey Butcherbird has a black crown and face and a grey back,
with
a thin white collar. The wings are grey, with large areas of white and
the
underparts are white. The grey and black bill is large, with a small
hook at
the tip of the upper bill. The eye is dark brown and the legs and feet
are
dark grey. Grey Butcherbirds measure 24cm - 30cm, and both sexes are
similar
in plumage, but the females are slightly smaller than the males. The
song is
a lovely rich piping with some mimicry and harsher notes.
Young Grey Butcherbirds resemble adults, but have black areas replaced
with
olive-brown and a buff wash on the white areas. The bill is completely
dark
grey and often lacks an obvious hook. They are sometimes mistaken for
small
kingfishers.
Their distribution is from mid-eastern Queensland, through southern
Australia to northern Western Australia. An isolated population is
found in
the Kimberley and the northernmost parts of the Northern Territory
Comments and faves
jacquie pics (60 months ago | reply)
Great shot I loved to hear them sing
Seen in the QEMD "Finch" Group
n3ttl3s (60 months ago | reply)
He is lovely and this is a great capture, great Dof. I love the way these walk sort of jump if they are the same bird we get. I can never get close enough to one for this sort of capture. well done.
I think this bird image is really excellent. You are invited to post it to Excellence In Avian Photography. Please read the rules before posting your image.
© Ramon Garrote (60 months ago | reply)
Wow, great picture, it's very beautiful.
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Seen on your photo stream. (?)
Ricardo Kuehn (60 months ago | reply)
Beautiful bird!!!
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Seen in my contacts' photos. (?)
d200 dug No censorship! (60 months ago | reply)
Nice shot but by feeding them you are responsible for killing many small song birds and honey eaters that normally nest and raise their young while these birds are up in the hills.
I do wish people would not feed wild animals of any kind it usually ends in either them or another species dying.
Please let the natural cycle take it's course.
Barbara J H (60 months ago | reply)
Thanks every one.
D70Dug: these birds have lived and raised their young in our neighbourhood for years, they don't come down from the hills.
I only suplement feed them a very small amount, as I am more than aware of what feeding wild animals can do. My yard is a suburban (same town as you) one and I share it with a lot of native wildlife.
ruslou (60 months ago | reply)
(Seen in the Excellence In Avian Photography Group)
fotofantasea (60 months ago | reply)
I have 4 of these guys coming to dine at my place too Barbara. They usually take food from the cats bowl when we're not looking and boy are they fast at it! lol I am always amazed at your lovely wildlife photos and most of them taken from your backyard - how wonderful to live in tune with nature!
Barbara J H (60 months ago | reply)
Thanks ruslou and Holly.
Holly, I know just what you mean re the cat food. :-)
I count my self lucky to have so many species of birds etc, I've sort of built my garden around attracting birds and other wildlife.
So far I've recorded 20 different types of birds in my yard, some are here all year round, others for just part of the year. My all time favourites are the Spangled Drongos.