Inland Grey Butcherbird
Adult, flying
Ellura
Australian Magpie
Chick in Nest; Dad Standing Guard
 
                      
Inland Grey Butcherbird (Cracticus torquatus ssp leucopterus)Class: Animals (Animalia) - Chordates (Chordata) - Birds (Aves)
Order: Perching Birds (Passeriformes)
Family: Crow (Artamidae)     iNaturalist Observation
Species: Inland Grey Butcherbird (Cracticus torquatus ssp leucopterus)
This Photo:     Size Comparison with Willie Wagtail

Thank you Andrew Allen for confirming the id of this species for us

General Species Information:
Found on Ellura (in the Murray Mallee, SA), the Riverland and elsewhere
A smartly dressed (in grey, black & white) inquisitive bird.
Immature birds can look like Kookaburras.
Looking at zzey's, you'd swear the juvenile's face is that of a Pied Butcherbird (as their drawing of the immature Grey doesn't look like ours). But the swirling beige lines around the eye are not identifiers.
We haven't been able to tell the difference between Grey & Pied juvenile birds. As such our juveniles on Ellura are assumed to be Grey as we haven't seen a Pied, but have many Greys.
We might be able to rely on their call, but we've seen videos of Pied Butcherbirds imitating other birds & sounds (but it's doubtful a juvenile has this skill).

Copyright © 2015-2024 Brett & Marie Smith. All Rights Reserved. Photographed 18-Oct-2015
This species is classed as NT (Near Threatened) in the Murray Mallee, SA, by DENR (Regional Species Status Assessments, July 2010)