Black Currawong

Identification

The black currawong is about 50 cm (20 in) long with an 80 cm (31 in) wingspan. The male is somewhat larger and heavier than the female; males of the nominate subspecies average 405 g (14.3 oz) to females' 340 g (12 oz). Male wings average around 27 cm (11 in) and tails 19 cm (7.5 in), while female wings average 25.8 cm (10.2 in) and tails 18.5 cm (7.3 in). Data for the two island subspecies is limited, but males of subspecies colei have been measured at 360 and 398 g (12.7 and 14.0 oz) with 26 cm (10 in) wings on average, and a female at 335 g (11.8 oz) with a 24 cm (9.4 in) wing, and subspecies parvior at 370–410 g (13–14 oz) for males with 26 cm (10 in) wings on average, and 308 g (10.9 oz) and 25 cm (9.8 in) wing for a female. The sexes are similar in plumage, which is all black except for white patches at the tips of the wings and tail feathers. The bill and legs are black and the eyes bright yellow. The white tips line the trailing edges of the wings in flight, and a paler arc across the bases of the primary flight feathers is also visible on the underwing. Although there is no seasonal variation to the plumage, the black may fade a little to a dark brown with wear. Immature birds have browner-tinged plumage, and a yellow gape until they are two years old. The oldest recorded age of a black currawong has been 15 years; a bird was sighted in July 2004 near Fern Tree, Tasmania, less than 2 km (1.2 mi) from where it had been banded in July 1989.<p>The black currawong is a loud and vocal species, and makes a variety of calls. Its main call is markedly different from the pied or grey currawongs and has been described as a combination of alternating kar and wheek sounds, killok killok, or even akin to part song and part human laughter. Although often noisy when flying in flocks, it can be silent when seeking prey or thieving food. Before or around dawn and at nightfall appear to be periods of increased calling, and birds are reported to be more vocal before rain or storms. Parents also make a long fluting whistle to summon their young.<p>The black currawong is commonly confused with the clinking currawong, but the latter species has a white rump and larger white wing patches. The black currawong has a heavier bill and a characteristic call unlike the clink-clink call of the clinking. The forest and little ravens are similar in size but lack the white wing patches, and instead have entirely black plumage and white, rather than yellow eyes. The black currawong is unlikely to be mistaken for the closely related pied currawong as the latter does not reach Tasmania, but it has a longer and deeper bill and lacks the white rump and undertail coverts.

Taxonomy

The black currawong was first described by ornithologist John Gould in 1836 as Cracticus fuliginosus, and in 1837 as Coronica fuliginosa. The specific epithet is the Late Latin adjective fuliginosus "sooty" from Latin fūlīgo "soot", and refers to the black plumage. American ornithologist Dean Amadon regarded the black currawong as a subspecies of the pied currawong (Strepera graculina), seeing it as part of a continuum with subspecies ashbyi of the latter species, the complex having progressively less white plumage as one moves south. Subsequent authors have considered it a separate species, although Richard Schodde and Ian Mason describe it as forming a superspecies with the pied currawong. A 2013 genetic analysis by Anna Kearns and colleagues gave some indication that the black currawong lineage diverged from a common ancestor of the grey and pied currawongs (though sampling was limited and not the focus of the study).<p>Common names include black currawong, sooty currawong, black bell-magpie, black or mountain magpie, black or sooty crow-shrike, and muttonbird. Black jay is a local name applied to the species within Tasmania. The species is often confused with the local dark-plumaged subspecies of the grey currawong (S. versicolor), known as the clinking currawong or hill magpie.<p>There are three subspecies of the black currawong: the nominate form Strepera fuliginosa fuliginosa of Tasmania; Strepera fuliginosa parvior of Flinders Island, described by Schodde and Mason in 1999; and Strepera fuliginosa colei of King Island, described by Gregory Mathews in 1916. The two island subspecies have identical plumage to the nominate, but are slightly smaller with shorter wings and tails, subspecies colei having a shorter tail than parvior.<p>Together with the pied and grey currawong, the black currawong forms the genus Strepera. Although crow-like in appearance and habits, currawongs are only distantly related to true crows, and are instead closely related to the Australian magpie and the butcherbirds. The affinities of all three genera were recognised early on and they were placed in the family Cracticidae in 1914 by ornithologist John Albert Leach after he had studied their musculature. Ornithologists Charles Sibley and Jon E. Ahlquist recognised the close relationship between the woodswallows and the butcherbirds and relatives in 1985, and combined them into a Cracticini clade, which later became the family Artamidae.

Scientific name

Strepera fuliginosa

Authority

(Gould, 1837)

Order

Passeriformes

Family

Artamidae

Genus

Strepera

Range and habitat

The black currawong is endemic to Tasmania where it is widespread, although it is uncommon or absent from areas below 200 m (660 ft) altitude. It breeds mainly in the Central Highlands, with scattered records elsewhere in Tasmania. Reports of breeding are rare from the northeast. It is found on many islands of Bass Strait, including the Hunter and Furneaux Groups. It was recorded historically from the Kent Group, but its status there is unknown. Within its range it is largely sedentary, although some populations at higher altitudes may move to lower altitudes during winter. Flocks have also been recorded making the 20 km (12 mi) long journey across water from Maria Island to the mainland in the morning and returning at nightfall, as well as moving between islands in the Maatsuyker group. The black currawong has expanded into the northeast corner of the island, to Musselroe Bay and Cape Portland.<p>The black currawong is generally found in wetter eucalypt forests, dominated by such species as alpine ash (Eucalyptus delegatensis), messmate (E. obliqua), and mountain gum (E. dalrympleana), sometimes with a beech (Nothofagus) understory. It also frequents cool rainforest of beech, king billy pine (Athrotaxis selaginoides). In lowlands it is more restricted to denser forests and moist gullies, while it also occurs in alpine scrubland and heathland at altitude. In dryer more open forest, it is replaced by the clinking currawong, although the two may co-occur in places such as the Central Highlands and Eastern Tiers. Both the Flinders and King island subspecies are found across their respective islands, but prefer more forested habitats there. The black currawong has been recorded in gardens in Hobart in Tasmania's southeast, and around Mount Wellington, on Hobart's outskirts, in winter. Some remained to breed in Hobart in 1994 after a year of severe weather.

Migration

Vertical migration

Behavior

Migration pattern: Vertical migration.

Conservation

Population trend: stable.

Population trend

stable