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Pied Butcherbird - Cracticus nigrogularis
Australia has few finer songbirds than the Pied Butcherbird. We were delighted by its loud, pure whistling notes ringing through the still morning air during a recent stay in Maleny in Queensland. When in a dawn chorus with his cousin the grey butcherbird, a family of magpies, a flock of currawongs, and the occasional crack of a whipbird, the effect is pure magic.
They live in small family groups with the immature birds helping to raise their younger siblings before being roundly ejected from the group to find their own territory or mate.
Oh, and these birds aren't called butcherbirds for nothing. This charming songster rates with hawks as the terror of small birds. It feeds mainly by flying down from a perch and seizing its prey on the ground; although it's very capable of catching a ball of minced meat thrown to it on the wing! Because its feet are too small to hold down its prey effectively, the bird will wedge its catch into a tree fork or onto a thorn before dining - an action which earns it the name 'butcherbird'.
The Pied Butcherbird is distributed throughout mainland Australia except for the extreme southern coastlines.
This shot was captured handheld at a distance of about 20 metres - a tripod certainly would've been helpful ...
All feedback (+/-) welcomed.
e2 members - please click on the link to the larger version for a clearer view
Susie :o)
Edit - oops, the lens used was a Canon 75-300mm.
| Camera: | Canon EOS 300D |
| Lens: | Canon EF-S 18-55 |
| Recording media: | CF |
| Title: | Pied Butcherbird |
| Username: | 
rosie42 |
| Uploaded: | 8 Oct 2005 - 2:46 PM |
| Tags: | Bird, Wildlife / nature |
| VS Mode Rating |
Unrated These stats show the percentage of wins and the rating score that your photo has achieved. You can go to the VS Mode by clicking on this icon. Signup to e2Signup to e2 to see which photo this has won or lost against in the vs mode |
| Votes: | 32 |
| Modifications Welcome (Upload a Modification) |
Comments
Thanks for the write-up. Having spent 6 months travelling around Australia one of the things we remember very clearly was the fantastic range of birdsong - in particular the whip-bird. Nice photo too. The catchlight is very bright, were you using a flash? Good exposure control to capture detail in the black and white plumage.
Hi Susie. I also echo the comments already received. Very pleasing to the eye, well exposed & composed.
Vince
Good composition Susie - You're right about their singing - one of my fav birds 
Susie,, my rushing out to but a ticket is getting nerarer and nearer...
David
I remember seeing your shots a few months ago and then nothing more. I see you have a few new ones. I'll have to browse through them and make a comment on my favourite.
This is really good for being hand held. Great desription too. I never realized they did that.
Patrick
Superb capture of the bird and such a detailed description.
Regards
Ian.
Time for your 30th click :o)
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