Here’s a few photos I took of a juvenile Grey Butcher Bird (Cracticus torquatus) sitting in a tree at our place this morning.
They have a beautiful song, and are quite agressive in the nesting season. Birds often attack cyclists in the nesting season. A Plover will scream madly at you until you go away (they nest on the ground, and have a lot to lose if thet don’t chase you). A Magpie will give you a warning cry before attacking, and will often snap their beaks close to you, to scare you off. But a Butcher Bird will slam into the side of your head without warning, and then warble happily about it afterwards, as though she was laughing at you: “Gotcha, you nasty cyclist. Stay away! Don’t come back!”.
For the rest of the year they’re fun to watch, and to listen to…
DID YOU KNOW that there was a vindictive court case in Brisbane in 1882 (Spry vs Minchinton) about the theft of a Butcher Bird?
Nice photos! Coincidentally, about a week ago in a fit on homesickness I changed the ringtone on my phone to the call of the Grey Butcher Bird. It’s very cheerful!
Great idea! Just goes to show that you can take the girl out of Australia, but you can’t take Australia out of the girl 🙂