Butcherbird fact sheet

What is a butcherbird?

Often located by their musical call, butcherbirds are medium-sized birds with a thick neck and strong beak with a hook at the tip. There are two main species in the Sydney region – the pied butcherbird and the grey butcherbird. The pied butcher bird is black and white. ‘Pied’ means two colours.

The scientific name for the pied butcherbird is  Cracticus nigrogularis  and for the grey butcherbird it is Cracticus torquatus.

Butcherbirds are carnivorous birds, hunting prey such as large insects and small reptiles.

Adult grey butcherbird

Adult pied butcherbird

What do butcherbirds look like?

Pied butcherbirds have a black head and black chest patch. They have a white collar at the back of their neck, a black back and black wings with white patches.

Grey butcherbirds are slightly smaller than pied butcherbirds. Grey butcherbirds also have a black head but have a white chin, chest and underbelly. The back of a grey butcherbird is grey with a narrow white collar at the neck. The wing and tail feathers are dark grey or black and the tail feathers have white tips.

In both species, the beak is grey with a black hooked tip, the feet are grey and the female is slightly smaller than the male. The hooked beak tip and thick neck distinguishes pied butcherbirds from magpies.

Adult pied butcherbird

Adult grey butcherbird

What do butcherbirds sound like?

Butcherbirds are songbirds. They have a distinctive musical call that resembles a melodic tune on a flute. Butcherbirds can also mimic other birds as part of their call.

Where do butcherbirds live?

Butcherbirds are found in forests and woodlands almost all over Australia except for arid areas. They prefer drier forests rather than the wetter rainforests. Butcherbirds use gardens, parks and school grounds with trees and shrubs.

Butcherbirds visit leafy parks and gardens.

What do butcherbirds eat?

Butcherbirds are carnivores. They usually take their prey from the ground which they spot from above on a perch. Prey animals include large insects, small reptiles such as lizards, small frogs, small birds such as finches and small mammals such as mice.

Pied butcherbird with an insect in its beak

Butcherbirds usually catch their prey on the ground.

A grey butcherbird with a small lizard taken up to a tree branch to kill and swallow

How are butcherbirds adapted to their environment?

Butcherbirds have adaptations for hunting and eating their prey. They are aggressive hunters and use the ‘perch-and-pounce’ hunting strategy. Butcherbirds sit on a tree branch or perch looking for small animals on the ground. When prey is spotted they fly down and pounce on it then carry it to a tree branch with their beak to kill and eat it.

Butcherbirds have excellent eyesight with eyes that focus forwards to pinpoint prey. They are agile flyers and can fly quickly from a perch to pounce on prey spotted on the ground. Butcherbirds have been known to also catch prey such as insects and small birds whilst in flight. The sharp hook at the tip of the butcherbird’s beak is used for grabbing and tearing prey.

Butcherbirds have been known to wedge large prey in a tree fork or impale it on thorns so they can tear off pieces. This behavioural adaptation gives butcherbirds their common name.

The hooked tip of a butcherbird’s beak is used for catching, killing and tearing prey.

Butcherbirds have forward focused vision for spotting prey animals.

How do butcherbirds reproduce and what is their life-cycle?

The female butcherbird builds a small round nest of twigs and sticks in the fork of a tree usually at least five metres above the ground. She lines it with soft materials such as grass.

The female lays 3 to 5 eggs which she incubates on her own. ‘Incubate’ means to keep the eggs warm. The incubation period is 20-21 days for pied butcherbirds and 24-26 days for grey butcherbirds. The male feeds the female whilst she is on the nest.

Both parents feed the hatchlings which are a well-camouflaged brown colour. They stay in the nest for about 30 days.

Once fledged, the juveniles have brown feathers in place of grey and black feathers and have pale brown feathers on the belly. They stay within the territory of the parents for at least a year. Juveniles sometimes help to raise the next brood.

In order to protect their young, butcherbirds can be aggressive around their nest site.

Grey butcherbird on her nest

A clutch of grey butcherbird eggs in a nest

These 2 fledgling butcherbirds were raised in a nest near the Field of Mars Environmental Education Centre

Juvenile grey butcherbird

What is the role of butcherbirds in the environment?

As predators and carnivores, butcherbirds help maintain the balance of nature.

What threats do butcherbirds face and how can we help them?

Butcherbirds are impacted by habitat destruction and fragmentation such as land clearing for housing, industrial and agricultural developments.

Protecting native woodlands and forests and planting vegetation corridors can provide habitat for butcherbirds.

When hand-fed, butcherbirds can lose their fear of humans and can become unwelcome visitors. Hand feeding does not provide the nutrients a natural diet provides. However, providing a source of water such as a raised bird bath, benefits butcherbirds and other native wildlife.

A grey butcherbird drinking from a bird bath at Field of Mars Environmental Education Center

It is important not to feed butcherbirds as a natural diet is best for their health and wellbeing.

Related fact sheets

More bird fact sheets

• Bird fact sheets – overview
• Australian magpie (similar size, also with a hooked beak, useful comparison)
• Australian raven (another black hunter/scavenger)

Habitats and food sources

• Tree habitats fact sheet
• Shrub habitats fact sheet
• Leaf litter habitats fact sheet
• Eucalypt forest fact sheet
• Field of Mars Reserve fact sheet

Animals linked through food webs

• Invertebrate fact sheet – overview (food source)