I have a single butcherbird in the tree near front porch and after having his morning feed her he sings and sings...just delightful to sit on my porch and watch and listen. It's the simple things in life that makes each day worth living.
One perched on my fence and sang to me (only a few metres away). It was only then I realised from its song that this was the bird I'd been hearing but not seeing all my life. I thought it was a kingfisher of some kind but after much searching found it was this delightful creature. I've bookmarked this page so when he or she returns I can play its lovely song to it.
I understand how you felt. I first heard, but never saw them, about 54 years ago in a location very far from my home near Sydney. After about 40 years I was shocked to hear them arrive where I lived, But I still did not see them and did not know what type of bird they were. Now I live in another area and I hear them. But yesterday I found out from this site that they are grey butcherbirds..... but I still haven't seen one! I have loved their call for over 55 years but I've never seen one. You are lucky to see one.
There's always one of these amazing birds singing in the big tree at my parents house every morning, and has been for at least the 16 years they've been there. It's such a beautiful, familiar tune to wake up to when I stay there but I never knew it was a Butcherbird until I saw this video.
I only recently discovered this bird in my yard. I thought it must be related to kookaburras but apparently not. He comes down occasionally for a little piece of bacon
Beautiful, glorious sound. Who would imagine such a beautiful sound could come from such a small bird.I have heaps around my garden. Thanks for sharing.
My 9 year old daughter has formed a very close relationship with a butcher bird near our home. She can even hand feed him :) He will sit on our front porch & sings to her :) waiting for her to feed him
started playing this to discourage the mynah birds we have at our house. the mynahs always chase away all the interesting birds like kookas and magpies. the mynahs are definitely keeping their distance when they hear these butcher birds. if only I could rig up a sensor so that the butcher birds calls could start singing whenever the mynahs come near!
Exquisite & very much like my garden, plants & surroundings here at Queens Park Geelong. Many generations of Butcherbirds have visited & are hand fed at my haven. Songs ever so slightly varied from the ones that mine sing here. Also HUGE variety of other Birds visiting to enjoy shade, water, trees, flowers, fruit & seeds here & nest in my trees. The omnivores all come up to balcony & kitchen window for meat & insect meal handouts. Cannot imagine life without these friends & their gorgeous songs.
Great old carry-on ! It's noticeable that Grey Butcherbirds often sing a favourite phrase, involving two birds-- -male first, female responding?--and that the phrasing appears almost 'postcode specific'. For example, a pair wake me each morning with a call-and-response, the same phrase predominating. A few kms away, you can hear a duetting pair with a different phrase altogether. Here's to Austral birdlife !
Yes, this is my exact experience with them as well... early morning calling back and forth sort of an eerie but beautiful call. I was only visiting Australia so it took me awhile to figure out what type of bird it was. They are my absolute favorite.
Fabulous footage. Many of these calls are accurately notatable into sheet music, i.e. the note-values & the intervals/pitch. I have notated my own local BBird's personal theme & variation. Maybe one day I'll release 'Symphony & Variations' by Mr G Butcherbird.
The ones near me seem (to me) to have a couple of variations of their song - one in a major key, and one in minor! They variations have the same shape, but one with a slightly more dramatic vibe.
Thank you for the awesome video! I've visited beautiful Queensland 7 times (as often as I can scrape up the money!), and the song of the Butcher Bird is one of my favorite memories!
Fantastic video that demonstrates all the different players and perfect timing in the editing allowing the viewer to see how it would occur in nature!!!
Funny thing ,i used to feed about 15 pied butcher birds for about 5yrs then 1 grey showed up,then another and now there are no pied ones coming at all. The greys must be quite aggressive as there is only 1 breeding pair that showed up and still only them and their yearly brood . Not a pied in the block anymore, but the greys are much friendlier and have a better song than the pied ones. They come and land on me when i'm out in the yard,scares the shit out me some times when i don't see them coming. Now i have 4 youngsters plus the adults to contend with landing on my head or shoulders, some times all at once. Love these more than i did the pied ones.
Return to this little vid often. Had never realised Butcherbirds put their whole bodies into those characteristic rollicking calls. Love the two-note bell-like phrase which precedes the rest, plus the parent-juvenile dynamic. Great stuff---more power to you !.
amazing that you can get them to come down to your house! my two dogs make it impossible but we've set up a feeder up high to hopefully attract some more wagtails and others in the warmer weather. at the moment they're the only ones who hang around other than the lorikeets who stick to the trees, and the occasional crow and dove
now i know what the bird ive heard before this call is and can confirm as i took picture of it in my yard thanks for the videoe it has helped me to id the bird in my garden because you put the bird itself and the call in this videoe its helped me to identify the bird that made the call me and mum iked the sound of its good to now its a native to austalasia i saw in my ausie back yard im glad i can finaly put a bird name and picture to the call i hear in my home quite often it never loses the beuty though its nice to listen to it allso is a cool bird
What energy the birds use in their calls.The duets are spectacular. Local variation in calls occurs between places as close as Bayview and Avalon - our Avalon butcherbird calls are similar but different, and I must say, more tuneful. They can also do mimicry eg of Willie Wagtails. MMacrae
What a stunning compilation of this bird and its very varied and unique calls! Thank you so much for this. I am hoping to hear the 'bonded pair' calls shortly with my local ones :)
Thanking you for posting this super video. I am feeding a male and female presently and my comp desk is right by my bedroom window. Some days I drive them crazy as I turn up your clip and they think their territory is being invaded.. I don't tease them too much but it keeps them guessing. They certainly have a beautiful call. I think their nest is in a local park but they never fly directly to it. Smart birds....
I'm amazed by the grey BB's I have a family of three that have enslaved me to feed them. I get this noise at 5am and it keeps going until they get food.
I spent a day researching the unfamiliar calls from two noisy birds at my house. I think it was a bonded pair of grey butcher birds. Similar sounds but my locals had their own rhythmic call and response. There was a third bird in the mix somewhere so could've been a family. Fascinating language of birds :)
The ones near my place are quite unafraid of humans, one in particular started landing right next to me, i give him a piece of ham now and then. such a sweet bird!
I have a little friend I call Scallywag the baby butcherbird. I played this and she was immediately outside the window looking in as though there was a rival in here with me. It made her VERY jealous! Vids of her are on my channel if you're interested. Thanks for the great vid and the hilarious reaction it provoked 😂
Same, we have Mum & Dad & 2 squeakers (babies) & they are so friendly, so fast, as l throw a little ball of mince meat, they pick it out of the Air. 😲😲🤭😍😁😜👏👏🥳🥳🥳🥰
I HAVE THOSE BIRDS HERE TOO. THEY OFTEN SING TO ME BUT IVE NEVER HAD ANY PROBLEM WITH THEM SWOOPING ME. I SURE WOULD NOT LIKE THEM IF THEY DID THAT TO ME. THE ONES AROUND HERE ARE QUITE FRIENDLY AND SING TO ME WHEN I GO FOR A WALK. I FEED THEM AS WELL. MAYBE IF YOU FED THEM THEY WOULD STOP SWOOPING. ITS WORTH A TRY I GUESS.
Try whistling to them. My nephew did this with a pair of magpies who were residents of a large gum tree at a house he rented in Melbourne because he didn't want to be attacked in breeding season. It worked.
Now this is singing - descending chromatics at 55" and 2'08"! all the songs from a totally different song book to our butcher birds. 2'26' is the closest to the songs we hear.
+Rosalind Halton I think birds must have different 'dialects'. The ones near here are different too. I noticed rainbow lorries in QLD sound very different to the ones here in VIC.
Rosalind, I have a recording of a bird that I can't work out what it is, but it sounds a little bit like this. Is there any way I could send it to you please. You sound a bit of an expert on the subject. thanks.
Hi, bird experts please help me... I'm in Parkes NSW. I think I've got one of these outside my bedroom windows, up tall in a dead tree. I think it also has a nest in the gutter of the verandah. It makes a call a bit like the last clip in this video, although it's a very specific song that I did not hear in this video. It repeats it almost exactly the same over and over again for what feels like an hour in the 5 to 6am hours. It has been doing this same repeated song for the past 2 mornings at the start of spring. Same hour, same duration, same repetitive song. This is the 3rd day and I finally got up and recorded it. And then maybe to some people's disliking I shoed it off down the street to a further tree where it started up again. That made me satisfied as it was much quieter to my ears now being further down the street. It was just so loud when it was outside my window, it disturbes my sleep greatly. I don't want to harm it since I found out it's probably native right? And I would never disturb the nest, I just want some info... I wonder what it is doing? Does anyone know? I'm assuming it's calling for a mate? Showing off its fancy song it's made and repeating the exact same one over and over at the same hour, in the same spot, 3 mornings in a row. Anyone know what it's doing?
I use this Video to scare the budgerigars in our Garden, they are 4 Meters under my Sleeping Room in a Open Air Cage and very loud. But always when "they" hear the Sound of this Video, they keep Silence for nearly one Hour ... and my Neighbour becomes angry because he know´s that the Birds are feeling shocked and scared now! Me been really suprised that this could work, God Bless RU-vid, hahaha. ^^
Thank you! This has a lovely variety of their calls. Pretty sure now I have them around my place. edit: I did not realize how many different calls this one bird can make. :)))))
Not really but it’s a meat eater so I would guess it helps it grip its prey. It’s called a butcher bird because it sometimes hangs its victims up on twigs on a tree so it looks a bit like a butcher hanging meat on hooks
