The Pied Butcherbird is a medium-sized songbird 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...

. It grows about 35 centimetres long and the colour of juvenile birds, which are accompanied by their parents, is brown and white as seen in the picture. As they mature their brown feathers are replaced by black feathers. Juveniles of the Pied Butcherbird and the Grey Butcherbird

Grey Butcherbird

The Grey Butcherbird is a widely distributed species endemic to Australia. The Grey Butcherbird occurs in a range of different habitats including arid, semi-arid and temperate zones. It has a characteristic "rollicking" birdsong...

are very similar in appearance.

It is common in woodlands and in urban environments. Its diet consists mostly of small vertebrates and insects. They have been known to accept food from humans.

In the dance 'Birdsong' by Siobhan Davies, the main central solo was accompanied by the call of an Australian Pied Butcher bird and this same sound provided great inspiration to much of the dance, including the improvisational aspects.

External links

• Pied Butcherbird videos, photos & sounds on the Internet Bird Collection
• Pied Butcherbird (Cracticus nigrogularis) | Birds in Backyards