Featured Article Summary #89

The pied butcherbird (Cracticus nigrogularis) is a songbird found in Australia. It was first described by John Gould in 1837 and is a distinctive black-and-white bird, 28 to 32 cm long, with a long hooked bill. Adult birds have a black “hood” on the head and throat, while the neck and underparts are white; young birds start off brown and white and gradually replace brown feathers with black as they mature. Usually it stays in the same area and lives in woodlands and towns, where it hunts insects and small animals, including other birds. It builds a cup-shaped nest in trees and lays two to five eggs, sometimes with help from extra birds that assist the breeding pair while defending the nesting area. Overall, the IUCN lists it as least concern because it has a wide range and a stable population. The pied butcherbird was first described by John Gould in 1837 as Vanga nigrogularis, with its name coming from Latin words for “black” and “throat.” It was later described under other names and forms, including Cracticus picatus, and taxonomists eventually recognised two main subspecies: nigrogularis (eastern Australia) and picatus (Northern Territory, Western Australia, and northern South Australia), though genetic evidence suggests they are closely related across the contact area known as the Carpentarian Barrier. It belongs to the genus Cracticus (the butcherbirds) and is closely related to the Tagula and hooded butcherbirds, forming a group that diverged from grey butcherbirds about five million years ago. The official common name is “pied butcherbird” (IOC), with many other traditional and alternative names recorded across different regions and Indigenous languages. The pied butcherbird is a stocky bird with a large head and short legs, measuring 28–32 cm long (about 31 cm), with a 51 cm wingspan and around 120 g weight. It is mostly black and white, with a black “hood” on the head and throat bordered by a narrow white neck collar (slightly smaller and greyer in females), plus some white on the wings, rump, and tail. Juveniles look different, with brown and cream tones instead of black and white, and they gradually develop more of the adult colouring after moulting. The pied butcherbird is known for its highly skilled and varied singing, with melodies changing across Australia and no single song shared by the whole population. It sings day songs, whisper songs, and breeding songs that can involve duets, bigger group choirs, and lots of improvisation, sometimes even on moonlit nights. Its different songs likely help with communication and bonding, and it can also make special alarm calls when threatened. The black hood of the pied butcherbird helps tell it apart from other similar birds, including the Australian magpie and the smaller magpie-lark, which also has a smaller beak. Its call is higher-pitched than the grey butcherbird’s, and it usually lives in more open areas. Young pied butcherbirds look more like grey butcherbirds, with a buff upper throat and dark brown (not black) feathers.