What is "butcherbird"

butcher bird \butcher bird\, butcher-bird \butcher-bird\, butcherbird \butcherbird\n.

1. (Zo["o]l.) any species of shrike of the genus Lanius, so called because they impale their prey on thorns.

2. (Zo["o]l.) large carnivorous Australian bird with the shrikelike habit of impaling prey on thorns.

   Note: The Lanius excubitor is the common butcher bird of Europe. In England, the bearded tit is sometimes called the lesser butcher bird. The American species are Lanius borealis, or northern butcher bird, and Lanius Ludovicianus or loggerhead shrike. The name butcher bird is derived from its habit of suspending its prey impaled upon thorns, after killing it.

n. 1 (context South Africa English) The (vern: fiscal shrike), (taxlink Lanius collaris species noshow=1) 2 any of the magpie-like birds in the genus ''Cracticus''

1. n. shrikes that impale their prey on thorns

2. large carnivorous Australian bird with the shrike-like habit of impaling prey on thorns

Butcherbirds are magpie-like birds in the genus Cracticus. They are native to Australasia. The Australian magpie has recently been placed in the same genus, and this new taxonomy has been supported by recent phylogenetic analyses. Together with three species of currawong and two species of peltops, butcherbirds and the Australian magpie form the subfamily Cracticinae in the family Artamidae.

Butcherbirds are large songbirds, being between in length. Their colour ranges from black-and-white to mostly black with added grey plumage, depending on the species. They have a large, straight bill with a distinctive hook at the end which is used to skewer prey. They have high-pitched complex songs, which are used to defend their essentially year-round group territories: unlike birds of extratropical Eurasia and the Americas, both sexes sing prolifically.

Butcherbirds are insect eaters for the most part, but will also feed on small lizards and other vertebrates. They get their name from their habit of impaling captured prey on a thorn, tree fork, or crevice. This "larder" is used to support the victim while it is being eaten, to store prey for later consumption, or to attract mates.

Butcherbirds are the ecological counterparts of the shrikes, which are only distantly related, but share the "larder" habit; shrikes are also sometimes called "butcherbirds". Butcherbirds live in a variety of habitats from tropical rainforest to arid shrubland. Like many similar species, they have adapted well to urbanisation and can be found in leafy suburbs throughout Australia. They are opportunistic, showing little fear and readily taking food offerings to the point of becoming semi-tame.

Female butcherbirds lay between two and five eggs in a clutch, with the larger clutch sizes in more open-country species. Except in the rainforest-dwelling hooded and black butcherbirds, cooperative breeding occurs, with many individuals delaying dispersal to rear young. The nest is made from twigs, high up in a fork of a tree. The young will remain with their mother until almost fully grown. They tend to trail behind their mother and "squeak" incessantly while she catches food for them.

Butcherbirds are magpie-like birds native to Australasia.

Butcherbird may also refer to:

• Butcherbird, a common name for species of shrikes that are known for their "larder" habit of impaling captured prey on thorns, which the unrelated Australian birds share
• Focke-Wulf Fw 190, a German fighter aircraft of World War II nicknamed "Butcher-bird"
• Butcher Bird, a novel by Richard Kadrey