butcherbird
Appearance
See also: butcher bird
English
[edit]
Etymology
[edit]From butcher + bird, from its habit of hanging its prey.
Noun
[edit]butcherbird (plural butcherbirds)
- Any of the magpie-like birds in the genus Cracticus, of Australia and New Guinea.
- 1934, Henry G. Lamond, An Aviary On The Plains, page 47:
- A butcher bird has stirred, tuned its flute with a few preparatory notes.
- 1987, Bruce Chatwin, The Songlines, Vintage, published 1998, page 224:
- A short way off, two male butcher birds, black and white like magpies, were calling antiphonally across a ravine.
- Any of the shrikes in the genus Lanius.
- Synonyms: shrike, red-backed shrike
- (South Africa) The fiscal shrike, Lanius collaris.
- Synonyms: Jacky Hanger, Jacky Hangman
Derived terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]Cracticus
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fiscal shrike
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