A new bird in the bath
By Judy Evans
@JudyEv (325696)
Rockingham, Australia
April 30, 2017 3:18am CST
A new bird came to our bird-bath the other day. It turned out to be a pied butcher-bird (Cracticus nigrogularis). It is native to Australia and is of medium size, reaching some 35cm (14 inches) in length. The head and throat are black and it has a black 'saddle'. The neck and outer wing feathers are white as is the underneath plumage.
It was quite a stocky bird and a bit like our magpies although the markings are different. Wikipedia puts their continued existence as 'of least concern' so that is good. Apparently they are quite inquisitive and can become quite tame. Wouldn't that be nice if we were able to tame a pied butcherbird? And sorry for the quality of the photo. Guess who took this one! 
12 people like this
17 responses
@JudyEv (325696)
• Rockingham, Australia
30 Apr 17
I suppose it does. I hadn't thought about it. Maybe it has a long tail. :)
@PatZAnthony (14752)
• Charlotte, North Carolina
30 Apr 17
That is a very pretty bird @JudyEv
Guessing we don't have those here as it does not look or sound familiar.
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@PatZAnthony (14752)
• Charlotte, North Carolina
1 May 17
@JudyEv Yes, they are different. That in itself is very interesting to me.
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@JudyEv (325696)
• Rockingham, Australia
1 May 17
@PatZAnthony We often have the same names for different things - dandelions are another one.
@JudyEv (325696)
• Rockingham, Australia
30 Apr 17
There are comments about magpies on here as they are a bit similar. I've just been researching magpies and UK, USA and Australia all have birds called 'magpies' but they are all different. The robins are different in each country too.
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@snowy22315 (169908)
• United States
1 May 17
Good shot of the bird. The birds here never use the bird bath. I have stopped filling it with water. Water is plentiful here though. I don;t think they need it.
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@JudyEv (325696)
• Rockingham, Australia
1 May 17
And here they don't need food. Another difference between our countries. 
@changjiangzhibin89 (16533)
• China
30 Apr 17
This is the first I see a pied butcher-bird .It looks gentlemanly ,don't know why people call it butcher.
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@changjiangzhibin89 (16533)
• China
2 May 17
@JudyEv Oh,I see.They seem to be beneficial birds.
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@jobelbojel (34729)
• Philippines
1 May 17
This is a good looking bird. Would be nice if I see this up close.
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@sueznewz2 (10409)
• Alicante, Spain
2 May 17
its a nice looking bird.... and the photo is good too..
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@JudyEv (325696)
• Rockingham, Australia
2 May 17
It should have been much more focussed but I was scared he'd fly away.
@teamfreak16 (43421)
• Denver, Colorado
30 Apr 17
I've never heard of it, but that is a pretty bird.
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@allknowing (130066)
• India
30 Apr 17
Thanks to our birdbath and fruit trees we get many birds visiting us. I notice we do not get birds that visit you
I created this video with the YouTube Slideshow Creator (http://www.youtube.com/upload) Happy to share my moments with the birds that visit Solitaire
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@JudyEv (325696)
• Rockingham, Australia
30 Apr 17
They're a solid bird, aren't they? The magpie has different markings.
@JohnRoberts (109857)
• Los Angeles, California
30 Apr 17
Any idea why it is called "butcher-bird"?
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