Uccello macellaio grigio

Identificazione

The grey butcherbird is a small grey, black and white bird with a weight of 90 grams (3.2 oz), a body length between 27 and 30 cm (10.6–11.8 in) and a wing span expanding 37–43 cm (14.6–16.9 in). The grey butcherbird is smaller than the Pied Butcherbird (Cracticus nigrogularis).<p>The adult grey butcherbird has a black head, top and sides; and a white chin and throat through to the lower hindneck. The upperbody is mostly dark grey with streaks of narrow white bands that extends across the uppertail-coverts at the base of the tail. The uppertail is black with narrow white tips. The wings are grey with large areas of white and the underside of the wing is also white. The tip of the beak has a slight downwards hook.<p>Both the male and female grey butcherbirds are similar in appearance, but the female is slightly smaller in size.<p>The juvenile is slightly different from the adult, as the juvenile does not have a black head, instead the head is a dark brown with fine streaks on the forehead and ear-covers and white loral spots that meet the eyes and bill, as well as having an off-white chin and throat. The upperbody is dark brown with streaks, and the uppertail-coverts are also a dark brown and have a brownish colour at the base of the uppertail. Juvenile's beaks are completely dark grey and often the hook at the tip of the beak is not obvious. The juvenile grey butcherbird is commonly mistaken for a small kingfisher.

Tassonomia

The grey butcherbird was first described by the English ornithologist John Latham in 1801 under the binomial name Lanius torquatus.<p>Closely related species include the silver-backed butcherbird (Cracticus argenteus) and the black-backed butcherbird (Cracticus mentalis). The silver-backed butcherbird (Cracticus argenteus) from Arnhem Land and northwestern Australia over to Port Hedland, originally described by John Gould in 1841, was later deemed to be a subspecies of the grey butcherbird. Recently, however, it has again been re-described as a separate species. The silver-backed butcherbird has two subspecies C. argenteus argenteus and C. a. colletti. The black-backed butcherbird occurs in Australia on the Cape York Peninsula and in Papua New Guinea and has two subspecies.<p>The grey butcherbird has three subspecies:

Nome scientifico

Cracticus torquatus

Autorità

(Latham, 1801)

Ordine

Passeriformi

Famiglia

Artamidae

Genere

Cracticus

Areale e habitat

Migrazione

Resident species

Conservazione

Tendenza della popolazione

unknown