Black-faced Cuckoo-shrikeScientific name: Coracina novaehollandiae
Meaning of name: Coracinos is Greek for raven-like. Novaehollandiae means New Holland, an early name for Australia.
Aboriginal name: Ngoolako (n’ool’are’co).
Distribution: The Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike can be found throughout Australia. It can also be found from Wallacea east through New Guinea to Solomon Islands.
Description: This bird is up to 39cm long and can have a wingspan of 59cm. The immature birds have less black on their face.
Notes: The furthest distance recorded by the Australian Bird and Bat Banding Scheme for this species of bird to travel is 256km. The oldest bird recorded was still alive when its band was read in September 1997, 8 years 11.6 months after being banded (information as at 20 June 2012).
References: Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds. Various contributors.
What Bird is That? Neville W Cayley. 1978
Aboriginal names of bird species in south-west Western Australia, with suggestions for their adoption into common usage. Ian Abbott. 2009. Conservation Science Western Australia Journal. Volume 7 No 2 http://www.dpaw.wa.gov.au/about-us/science-and-research/76-publications-and-resources/103-conservation-science-wa-journal
Australian Bird and Bat Banding Scheme http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/science/abbbs/abbbs-search.html
Black-faced Cuckoo-shrikes have been seen gleaning Crusader Bugs from Jacksonia sternbergiana.
This immature bird has far less black colour to its face than adult birds.
Black-faced Cuckoo-shrikes often shuffle their wings on landing. This gives them one of their common names of Shufflewing.
