canberrabirds

Grey/Pied Currawong hybrid or leucismic Pied Currawong

To: "Canberrabirds" <>
Subject: Grey/Pied Currawong hybrid or leucismic Pied Currawong
From: "John Layton" <>
Date: Wed, 6 Sep 2006 22:06:31 +1000
At 1:00 pm on 6 September, between the rear of Woolworths supermarket, Kippax and the Holt playing fields, I noticed a currawong pulling loose bark from a eucalyptus tree as it perched in a fork of the trunk a metre above the ground. Judging by the behaviour I thought it might be a Grey Currawong and investigated. But my curiosity went unrewarded. Rather, it was piqued.
 
The bird's head and neck were black like a Pied Currawong and stood out from the rest of the plumage which appeared to be dark grey. The chest and belly were splotched with dull white as was the mantle and scapular areas. Also, I didn't notice any white on the undertail coverts or tip of tail which would have been the case in either normal-plumaged species, I think.
 
As I closed to within three metres it moved to an adjacent tree and I saw it was carrying a couple of pieces of bark (c.8 cm long) which may indicate it was nest-building nearby. If so, it mightn't be hard to track down. I regained a reasonable view a few seconds later but it seemed wary and moved higher in the tree before giving me the slip.
 
I initially thought Grey/Pied Currawong hybrid, but a quick perusal of HANZAB didn't reveal any mention of such a cross, and Chris Davey has pointed out the possibility it may be a leucismic (if I've got that word correct) Pied Currawong.
 
John Layton.
 
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