Grey Butcherbird

Scientific name: Cracticus torquatus

Meaning of name:

Cracticus is Greek for loud voiced. Torquatus is Latin for collared.

Aboriginal Name:

Wadowadong (ward’awe’war’dawng).

Distribution:

Endemic to Australia and widespread.

Description:

Grey Butcherbirds are up to 30 centimetres long with a wingspan of 43 centimetres.

Notes:

The furthest distance recorded by the Australian Bird and Bat Banding Scheme for this species of bird to travel is 108 km. The oldest bird recorded was recovered 20 years 1.8 months after being banded (information as at 23 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 https://library.dbca.wa.gov.au/Journals/080559/080559-07.015.pdf

Australian Bird and Bat Banding Scheme http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/science/abbbs/abbbs-search.html

Atlas of Living Australia https://bie.ala.org.au/species/https://biodiversity.org.au/afd/taxa/681ea214-3788-4cc6-8b97-0b325d6bba6b