Cracticidae

Pied butcherbird Cracticus nigrogularis, photographed by Michael Schmid.

Belongs within: Corvides.

The Cracticidae include the butcherbirds and currawongs, relatively large omnivorous passerines found in Australia and New Guinea. Cracticids are often strikingly coloured, and are noted for their songs. The currawongs of the genus Strepera are generally larger and more elongate in body form than other members of the family.

Characters (from the Internet Bird Collection): Medium-sized to large passerines, most with longish wings, long tail, long and generally stout bill with hooked tip, ground-foraging species short-tailed; plumage black and white, sometimes with grey.

Cracticidae [Cracticinae, Streperidae] JT12
    |--Strepera Lesson 1831 JT12, B94 [Streperinae]
    |    |--S. cuneicaudata B08
    |    |--S. fuliginosa JT12
    |    |--S. graculina JT12
    |    |    |--S. g. graculina [incl. S. g. nebulosa, S. g. robinsoni] M03
    |    |    |--S. g. crissalis M03
    |    |    `--S. g. magnirostris M03
    |    `--S. versicolor (Latham 1801) [=Corvus versicolor] WS48
    |         |--S. v. versicolor WS48
    |         |--S. v. arguta M03
    |         |--S. v. halmaturina M03
    |         |--S. v. intermedia M03
    |         |--S. v. melanoptera M03
    |         `--S. v. plumbea Gould 1846 WS48
    `--+--Gymnorhina Gray 1840 BKB15, CC10 [Gymnorhininae]
       |    |--*G. tibicen (Latham 1802) CC10 [=Coracias tibicen CC10, Cracticus tibicen CC10]
       |    |    |--G. t. tibicen [incl. G. t. terraereginae] M03
       |    |    |--G. t. eylandtensis M03
       |    |    |--G. t. hypoleuca (Gould 1837) [=Cracticus hypoleucus] CC10
       |    |    |--G. t. leuconota Gould 1844 M03, CC10
       |    |    `--G. t. longirostris Milligan 1903 WS48
       |    `--G. dorsalis Campbell 1894 WS48 [=G. tibicen dorsalis M03, Cracticus tibicen dorsalis SJ85]
       `--Cracticus Vieillot 1816 BKB15, B94 [incl. Barita Cuvier 1816 B94; Baritidae, Baritinae]
            |--C. cassicus JT12
            |--‘Barita’ destructor B66
            |--C. louisiadensis JT12
            |--C. mentalis JT12
            |--C. nigrogularis (Gould 1837) WS48 (see below for synonymy)
            |--C. quoyi BKB15
            |    |--C. q. quoyi M03
            |    |--C. q. alecto M03
            |    |--C. q. jardini M03
            |    |--C. q. rufescens M03
            |    `--C. q. spaldingi M03
            |--C. robustus R87
            `--C. torquatus (Latham 1801) [=Lanius torquatus] WS48
                 |--C. t. torquatus WS48
                 |--C. t. argenteus Gould 1840 WS48
                 |--C. t. cinereus M03
                 |--C. t. colletti M03
                 |--C. t. latens Ford 1979 PCC13
                 `--C. t. leucopterus Gould 1848 WS48

Cracticus nigrogularis (Gould 1837) WS48 [=Vanga nigrogularis WS48; incl. C. nigrogularis coongani Mathews 1923 WS48, C. nigrogularis kalgoorli Mathews 1912 WS48, C. nigrogularis picatus M03, C. nigrogularis tormenti Mathews 1912 WS48]

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[B66] Bartlett, A. D. 1866. Notes on the breeding of several species of birds in the Society's gardens during the year 1865. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 76–79.

[B94] Bock, W. J. 1994. History and nomenclature of avian family-group names. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 222: 1–281.

[B08] Brittlebank, C. C. 1908. The life-history of Loranthus exocarpi Behr. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 33: 650–656, pls 15–20.

[CC10] Checklist Committee (OSNZ). 2010. Checklist of the Birds of New Zealand, Norfolk and Macquarie Islands, and the Ross Dependency, Antarctica 4^th ed. Ornithological Society of New Zealand and Te Papa Press: Wellington.

[JT12] Jetz, W., G. H. Thomas, J. B. Joy, K. Hartmann & A. Ø. Mooers. 2012. The global diversity of birds in space and time. Nature 491: 444–448.

[M03] Morcombe, M. 2003. Field Guide to Australian Birds 2^nd ed. Steve Parish Publishing.

[PCC13] Pearson, D. J., M. A. Cowan & W. Caton. 2013. The avifauna of larger islands along the Kimberley coast, Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum Supplement 81: 125–144.

[R87] Ramsay, E. P. 1887. List of Western Australian birds collected by Mr. Cairn, and Mr. W. H. Boyer-Bower, at Derby and its vicinity, with remarks on the species. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, series 2, 1 (4): 1085–1100.

[SJ85] Storr, G. M., & R. E. Johnstone. 1985. Field Guide to the Birds of Western Australia 2^nd ed. Western Australian Museum: Perth (Australia).

[WS48] Whittell, H. M., & D. L. Serventy. 1948. A systematic list of the birds of Western Australia. Public Library, Museum and Art Gallery of Western Australia, Special Publication 1: 1–126.

Last updated: 24 July 2019.