On our walk along the back of the houses at Isaacs Ridge this morning, Andrea and I heard a Grey Butcherbird calling in the mid distance. The call was suddenly closer, and we looked up and saw two Australian Magpies in a pine tree, one
of which clearly was giving the more guttural (probably best described as the “throaty warble”) part of the Grey Butcherbird call a number of times before flying off. We heard this call again over 30 minutes later when we were going past this spot but further
up the ridge.
HANZAB indicates that the Grey Butcherbird is among the >35 species of birds for which mimicry by the Australian Magpie has been noted, but gives few further details. I recall coming across this once before when Brittany Brockett told
me she could see an Australian Magpie clearly giving the Grey Butcherbird when we were doing the Mulligans Flat NR woodlands survey last September. I apologise to Brittany for being rather sceptical of it at the time and not following it up by checking HANZAB
then.
It does demonstrate the pitfalls of recording species just by their call, my rule is wherever possible to try to see the bird, especially when its presence in the particular area is not well known.
Jack Holland
