Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike
Encyclopedia
The Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike (Coracina novaehollandiae) is a common omnivorous passerine
bird native to Australia
, New Guinea
and the Solomon Islands
. It has a protected status in Australia, under the National Parks and Wildlife Act, 1974.
They are widely distributed in almost any wooded habitat
throughout the area, except in rainforests. But they can also occur in urban areas, and are a fairly common sight on power lines in Australian cities such as Sydney
and Perth
.
in 1789. The Yindjibarndi people of the central and western Pilbara known the species as Julgira; they would clip their wings and keep them as pets.
, white underparts and a somewhat hooked bill
. The size varies between 32 cm and 34 cm. They are slow-moving, inconspicuous birds, with a shrill, screaming call, sounding like “creearck”
e, caterpillar
s or other invertebrate
s. These may be caught in flight, or caught when searching through the foliage
. In addition, some fruits and seeds are also eaten.
Breeding season is chiefly from August to February each year. Both partners build the rather small nest. The fledglings leave the nest after about three weeks of hatching. They look like the adults, except the black facial mask is reduced to an eye stripe.
Outside the breeding season, they like to flock in groups of up to a hundred birds. Some may be partially migratory
or may remain in the same territory. Lack of significant differences between regional populations in Australia makes it difficult to determine where populations move in winter.
Passerine
A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders: with over 5,000 identified species, it has roughly...
bird native to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
and the Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...
. It has a protected status in Australia, under the National Parks and Wildlife Act, 1974.
They are widely distributed in almost any wooded habitat
Habitat (ecology)
A habitat is an ecological or environmental area that is inhabited by a particular species of animal, plant or other type of organism...
throughout the area, except in rainforests. But they can also occur in urban areas, and are a fairly common sight on power lines in Australian cities such as Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
and Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
.
Taxonomy
The Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike was first described by German naturalist Johann Friedrich GmelinJohann Friedrich Gmelin
Johann Friedrich Gmelin was a German naturalist, botanist, entomologist, herpetologist and malacologist.- Education :Johann Friedrich Gmelin was born as the eldest son of Philipp Friedrich Gmelin in 1748 in Tübingen...
in 1789. The Yindjibarndi people of the central and western Pilbara known the species as Julgira; they would clip their wings and keep them as pets.
Description
Adult birds have a prominent black face and throat, gray plumageFeather
Feathers are one of the epidermal growths that form the distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on birds and some non-avian theropod dinosaurs. They are considered the most complex integumentary structures found in vertebrates, and indeed a premier example of a complex evolutionary novelty. They...
, white underparts and a somewhat hooked bill
Beak
The beak, bill or rostrum is an external anatomical structure of birds which is used for eating and for grooming, manipulating objects, killing prey, fighting, probing for food, courtship and feeding young...
. The size varies between 32 cm and 34 cm. They are slow-moving, inconspicuous birds, with a shrill, screaming call, sounding like “creearck”
Behaviour
The diet consists of insects, their larvaLarva
A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle...
e, caterpillar
Caterpillar
Caterpillars are the larval form of members of the order Lepidoptera . They are mostly herbivorous in food habit, although some species are insectivorous. Caterpillars are voracious feeders and many of them are considered to be pests in agriculture...
s or other invertebrate
Invertebrate
An invertebrate is an animal without a backbone. The group includes 97% of all animal species – all animals except those in the chordate subphylum Vertebrata .Invertebrates form a paraphyletic group...
s. These may be caught in flight, or caught when searching through the foliage
Leaf
A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....
. In addition, some fruits and seeds are also eaten.
Breeding season is chiefly from August to February each year. Both partners build the rather small nest. The fledglings leave the nest after about three weeks of hatching. They look like the adults, except the black facial mask is reduced to an eye stripe.
Outside the breeding season, they like to flock in groups of up to a hundred birds. Some may be partially migratory
Bird migration
Bird migration is the regular seasonal journey undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather. Sometimes, journeys are not termed "true migration" because they are irregular or in only one direction...
or may remain in the same territory. Lack of significant differences between regional populations in Australia makes it difficult to determine where populations move in winter.
External links
- Photo
- Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike videos, photos & sounds on the Internet Bird Collection