Grey Butcherbird killing an adult Little Lorikeet and a review of adult avian prey of butcherbirds and Pied Currawongs
| Posted: |
25/07/2024 |
| Author(s): |
Richard A. Noske |
There are few published records of predation of adult birds in Australia by animals other than raptors and introduced carnivorous mammals. This note provides photographic proof of the first known instance of a Grey Butcherbird Cracticus torquatus attacking and killing a wild adult parrot, a Little Lorikeet Glossopsitta pusilla. While the median mass and size (based on wing length) of the Little Lorikeet are 40% and 72%, respectively, of those of the Grey Butcherbird, four of the 27 currently known adult bird prey species have a higher mass than the Butcherbird, the heaviest being the Spotted Dove Spilopelia chinensis. In comparison, only one of the 30 known adult bird prey species of the Pied Currawong Strepera graculina has a mass exceeding that of the Currawong. The median mass and wing length of all adult bird prey species (combined) of the Grey Butcherbird equate to 24% and 59%, respectively, of the Butcherbird, whereas the same morphometrics for the Pied Currawong’s prey equate to 9% and 38% of its median mass and wing length, respectively. This demonstrates that relative to its own size, the Grey Butcherbird takes larger bird prey than those taken by the Pied Currawong, despite the Butcherbird weighing only about one-third the mass of the Currawong. The predation of pigeons
and doves by three species of butcherbirds, as well as the Pied Currawong, suggests that they may be more vulnerable to predation than other similar-sized birds.
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