- Cracticus argenteus
Identification
27 - 30cm. A medium-sized Butcherbird with a strong bill.
- Black top and side of head, black lores, black extending as necklace on to breast
- Bright white chin and throat
- Broad white half-collar on each side from throat towards middle of hindneck
- Pale silvery-grey upperparts with some streaking and mottling
- Narrow white band across rump (well visible in flight)
- Black tail with narrow white tip
- Mostly black upperwing with white stripe (innermost secondaries) and white patch (secondary coverts)
- Whitish underwings
- Off-white underparts
Females are smaller and have a similar plumage, sometimes browner than males. Juveniles are brown with buff streaks and a dark brown head.
Similar species
Grey Butcherbird is similar but has white lores and a dark grey mantle.
Distribution
Western and northern Australia.
Patchily distributed.
Taxonomy
Two subspecies accepted:
- C. a. argenteus in Western Australia and adjacent northwest Northern Territory
- C. a. colletti in coastal Northern Territory
Has formerly been considered conspecific with Grey Butcherbird.
Forms a superspecies with Black-backed Butcherbird and Grey Butcherbird and has sometimes been placed in genus Bulestes.
Habitat
Open forest, woodland, farmland and urban areas.
Behaviour
Feeds mainly on insects but takes also small birds and nestlings, sometimes fruit, seeds and nectar.
Forages from a perch.
Breeding mainly from August to January but has been recorded all year in response to rain in drier areas. Usually a solitary breeder, sometimes with helpers. The nest is a shallow, untidy bowl made of thing twigs and placed around 5 - 6m above the ground in a tree (usually eucalypt). Lays 3 - 4 eggs.
A territorial species, staying in its territory all year.
References
- Clements, JF. 2009. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2009. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
- Del Hoyo, J, A Elliott, and D Christie, eds. 2009. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 14: Bush-shrikes to Old World Sparrows. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8496553507
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Silver-backed Butcherbird. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 20 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Silver-backed_Butcherbird
