Pied Butcherbirds

Pied Butcherbird, Lake Cullulleraine

I have recently travelled from my home in Murray Bridge, South Australia to Sydney. Along the way I stopped many times to do some birding and, where possible, take some photos of the birds I saw. On the first day of my journey, I stopped for lunch at Lake Cullulleraine which is a small community on the banks of this lovely lake. It is about a half hour drive west of Mildura in the far north-western part of Victoria.

After having my lunch I slowly drove around the area adjacent to the lakeside picnic area. In this part of the small town is a well-kept football oval as well as grass tennis courts. I saw a few Red-rumped Parrots. a small group of Masked Lapwings patrolling the grass and several Australian Magpies and  Magpie Larks. On the netting around the tennis courts, I saw perched an adult plumage Pied Butcherbird. This bird is the subject of today’s photos.

Grey Butcherbirds are relatively common and widespread in the area where I live. But for Pied Butcherbirds, I generally have to travel some distance north or east to see this species, though I have recorded it once just south of Murray Bridge. Grey Butcherbirds are regular visitors to my garden but I have never recorded a Pied Butcherbird at home. My records go back over 35 years. On the rest of my journey to Sydney, I saw Pied Butcherbirds frequently as I drove along. On the other hand, where I am staying in Artarmon, Sydney, I have only ever seen Grey Butcherbirds despite both species being present throughout this area. This is probably just a case of not being in the right place at the right time.

For further reading, just click on one of the bird species mentioned in this post.

Good birding,

Trevor.

Pied Butcherbird, Lake Cullulleraine