What do butcher birds look like

Feeding normally takes place alone, in pairs or in small family groups. The Grey Butcherbird's nest is bowl-shaped, and is made of sticks and twigs, lined with grasses and other soft fibres. It is normally located within 10 m of the ground. The eggs are incubated by the female and the young birds are fed by both parents. The young birds will remain in the breeding territory for about a year, and help the parents raise the young of the following season.

Jump to navigation. The song is a lovely rich piping with some mimicry and harsher notes. Research Species:. Minimum Size:. Maximum Size:. Average size:. Average weight:.

Breeding season:. Clutch Size:. Nestling Period:. What colour is the bird? What size is the bird? Small 15 cm to 30 cm e. What shape is the bird? Are there any distinctive features about the bird? Scientific Name:. Cracticus torquatus. Featured bird groups:. Survey species.

Top 40 Bird Songs. Atlas Number:. Similar species:. You will soon discover that most birds enjoy a chance to wet their feathers and fluff themselves up afterwards. Grey Butcherbirds have a dark side. Many small birds tremble in fear when they hear the beautiful, rollicking call of this bird, which it often performs in a duet. Butcherbirds get their name from their gruesome way of feeding. When they catch prey, they hang it off a branch or tree fork, and hack the meat away, just like a butcher.

The adult Grey Butcherbird has a black head and face and a grey back, with a thin white collar. Grey Butcherbirds love to eat meat such as lizards, mice, beetles, insects, chicks and small birds, and other small buddies. When they spy their prey, they pounce quickly on it, or can even catch prey in mid-air.

Grey Butcherbirds will also occasionally eat fruit and seeds, which you may see them hunting for in your garden. Spring is a good time to see a Grey Butcherbird with its chicks. These birds breed from July to January each year. The females lay three to five eggs in a nest up to 10 metres high off the ground.

The female will incubate her eggs for about 25 days, and then both parents feed the chicks. In some Grey Butcherbird families, the chicks will stay around for a year after they have fledged to help their parents raise the next set of chicks.

Photo: R Nicolai. Grey Butcherbird Go Back. What do Grey Butcherbirds look like? Where are Grey Butcherbirds found?