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The Collaborative International Dictionary
currawong

currawong \cur"ra*wong\ (k[^u]r"[.a]*w[o^]ng), n. any of several bluish black fruit-eating birds of Australia of the genus Strepera having a bell-like call.

Syn: bell magpie.

Wiktionary
currawong

n. Any of the three species, and several subspecies, of large, mainly black, predatory passerine birds in the genus ''Strepera'', of the family Artamidae, endemic to Australia.

WordNet
currawong

n. bluish black fruit-eating bird with a bell-like call [syn: bell magpie]

Wikipedia
Currawong

Currawongs are three species of medium-sized passerine birds belonging to the genus Strepera in the family Artamidae native to Australasia. These are the grey currawong (Strepera versicolor), pied currawong (S. graculina), and black currawong (S. fuliginosa). The common name comes from the call of the familiar pied currawong of eastern Australia and is onomatopoeic. They were formerly known as crow-shrikes or bell-magpies. Despite their resemblance to crows and ravens, they are only distantly related to the corvidae, instead belonging to an Afro-Asian radiation of birds of superfamily Malaconotoidea.

The true currawongs are a little larger than the Australian magpie, smaller than the ravens (except possibly the little raven, which is only slightly larger on average), but broadly similar in appearance. They are easily distinguished by their yellow eyes, in contrast to the red eyes of a magpie and white eyes of Australian crows and ravens. Currawongs are also characterised by the hooked tips of their long, sharply pointed beaks. They are not as terrestrial as the magpie and have shorter legs. They are omnivorous, foraging in foliage, on tree trunks and limbs, and on the ground, taking insects and larvae (often dug out from under the bark of trees), fruit, and the nestlings of other birds. They are distinguishable from magpies and crows by their comical flight style in amongst foliage, appearing to almost fall about from branch to branch as if they were inept flyers.

Usage examples of "currawong".

The grasshoppers will go after the sweet concoction, and the birds, especially currawongs, will go after the grasshoppers.