The black butcherbird (Melloria quoyi, also known as Cracticus quoyi) is a species of butcherbird in the family Artamidae. It is found in Australia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, and subtropical or tropical mangrove forest.
| Black butcherbird | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Artamidae |
| Genus: | Melloria Mathews, 1912 |
| Species: | M. quoyi
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| Binomial name | |
| Melloria quoyi | |
| Synonyms | |
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Cracticus quoyi | |
Taxonomy edit
Evidence was published in a 2013 molecular study which showed that it was the sister taxon to the Australian magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen). The ancestor to the two species is thought to have split from the other butcherbirds between 8.3 and 4.2 million years ago, during the late Miocene to early Pliocene, while the two species themselves diverged sometime during the Pliocene (5.8–3.0 million years ago).[2]
Description edit
The adult is black all over except for its beak which is black-tipped grey. Most juveniles are rufous-brown. Confusingly, some juveniles are black while some brown young birds may rarely retain their brown colour into adulthood.[3] As the only butcherbirds with wholly black bodies, they are sometimes confused with crows or currawongs, from which they are distinguished by their gray and hooked bills.[4]
Behavior edit
In Papua New Guinea, Black butcherbirds have been observed parasitizing the nests of Hooded monarch birds.[5]
In 1903, ornithologist E. M. Cornwall observed brown and black varieties of the bird, the black preferring deeper forest and the brown preferring coastal scrub or mangroves.[6]
References edit
- ^ BirdLife International (2016). "Melloria quoyi". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22706285A94060435. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22706285A94060435.en. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
- ^ Anna M Kearns; Leo Joseph; Lyn G. Cook (5 December 2012). "A multilocus coalescent analysis of the speciational history of the Australo-Papuan butcherbirds and their allies". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 66 (3): 941–952. doi:10.1016/J.YMPEV.2012.11.020. ISSN 1055-7903. PMID 23219707. Wikidata Q30047358.
- ^ Morcombe, Michael (2004). Field guide to Australian birds (2nd ed.). Steve Parish Publishing. ISBN 9781740215596. OCLC 224509314.
- ^ Campbell, Iain; Woods, Sam (2013). Wildlife of Australia. Princeton University Press. p. 324. ISBN 9781400846825. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
- ^ Chmel, K (2018). "Predation on artificial and natural nests in the lowland rainforest of Papua New Guinea". Bird Study. 65 (1): 114–122. Bibcode:2018BirdS..65..114C. doi:10.1080/00063657.2017.1420751. S2CID 90067582.
- ^ Cornwall, EM (1903). "Black butcher-bird". Emu. 3 (1): 58–59. Bibcode:1903EmuAO...3...58.. doi:10.1071/MU903055g.
External links edit
"Melloria quoyi (Lesson & Garnot, 1827) Black Butcherbird". Atlas of Living Australia.