The hooded butcherbird (''Cracticus cassicus'') is a species of

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped') which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines generally have an anisodactyl arrangement of their ...

bird in the family

Artamidae Artamidae is a family of passerine birds found in Australia, the Indo-Pacific region, and Southern Asia. It includes 24 extant species in six genera and three subfamilies: Peltopsinae (with one genus, '' Peltops''), Artaminae (with one genus con ...

. It is found in

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF), also known as tropical moist forest, is a subtropical and tropical forest habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Description TSMF is generally found in large ...

Taxonomy

The hooded butcherbird was described by the French polymath

Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (; 7 September 1707 – 16 April 1788) was a French Natural history, naturalist, mathematician, and cosmology, cosmologist. He held the position of ''intendant'' (director) at the ''Jardin du Roi'', now ca ...

in 1780 in his '' Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux'' from a specimen collected in New Guinea by the naturalist

Pierre Sonnerat Pierre Sonnerat (18 August 1748 – 31 March 1814) was a French naturalist, colonial administrator, writer and explorer. He described numerous species of plants and animals on his travels and is honoured in the genus ''Sonneratia'' and in other ...

. The bird was also illustrated in a hand-coloured plate engraved by

François-Nicolas Martinet François-Nicolas Martinet (1731 - c. 1800) was a French engineer, engraver and naturalist. Although trained as an engineer and draftsman, he began to produce engravings for books and it later became his primary profession. Martinet's year of b ...

in the ''Planches Enluminées D'Histoire Naturelle'' which was produced under the supervision of

Edme-Louis Daubenton Edme-Louis Daubenton (12 August 1730 – 12 December 1785) was a French naturalist. Daubenton was the cousin of another French naturalist, Louis Jean-Marie Daubenton. Georges-Louis Leclerc, the Comte de Buffon engaged Edme-Louis Daubenton to su ...

to accompany Buffon's text. Neither the plate caption nor Buffon's description included a scientific name but in 1783 the Dutch naturalist

Pieter Boddaert Pieter Boddaert (1730 – 6 May 1795) was a Dutch physician and naturalist. Early life, family and education Boddaert was the son of a Middelburg jurist and poet by the same name (1694–1760). The younger Pieter obtained his M.D. at the Univers ...

coined the

binomial name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, altho ...

''Ramphastos cassicus'' in his catalogue of the ''Planches Enluminées''. The type locality was restricted to Vogelkop (

Bird's Head Peninsula The Bird's Head Peninsula ( Indonesian: , , meaning Bird's Head in Indonesian and Dutch) or Doberai Peninsula (''Semenanjung Doberai'') is a large peninsula that makes up the northwest portion of the island of New Guinea, comprising the Indones ...

), northwest New Guinea, by the American biologist

Ernst Mayr Ernst Walter Mayr ( ; ; 5 July 1904 – 3 February 2005) was a German-American evolutionary biologist. He was also a renowned Taxonomy (biology), taxonomist, tropical explorer, ornithologist, Philosophy of biology, philosopher of biology, and ...

in 1941. The hooded butcherbird is now placed in the

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

''Cracticus'' that was introduced in 1816 by the French ornithologist

Louis Pierre Vieillot Louis Pierre Vieillot (10 May 1748, Yvetot – 24 August 1830, Sotteville-lès-Rouen) was a French ornithologist. Vieillot is the author of the first scientific descriptions and Linnaean names of a number of birds, including species he collected ...

with the hooded butcherbird as the

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

. The generic name is from the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

''kraktikos '' meaning "noisy" or "clamorous". The specific epithet ''cassicus'' is from the French "Cassican" which in turn is from "Cassique", the French word for

cacique A cacique, sometimes spelled as cazique (; ; feminine form: ), was a tribal chieftain of the Taíno people, who were the Indigenous inhabitants of the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles at the time of European cont ...

used from orioles. It is one of six (or seven) members of the genus ''Cracticus'' known as butcherbirds. Within the genus, it is most closely related to the

Tagula butcherbird The Tagula butcherbird (''Cracticus louisiadensis'') is a species of bird in the family Artamidae. It is endemic to Tagula Island in Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island coun ...

, and the two are related to the

pied butcherbird The pied butcherbird (''Cracticus nigrogularis'') is a songbird native to Australia. Described by John Gould in 1837, it is a black and white bird long with a long hooked bill. Its head and throat are black, making a distinctive hood; the Bird ...

of Australia. The three form a monophyletic group within the genus, having diverged from ancestors of the

grey butcherbird The grey butcherbird (''Cracticus torquatus'') is a widely distributed species endemic to Australia. It occurs in a range of different habitats including arid, semi-arid and temperate zones. It is found across southern Australia, but is absent fr ...

around five million years ago. Two subspecies are recognised. The nominate race ''cassicus'' is found on mainland New Guinea and islands to the west, as well as Kairiru, Mushu and Basilaki Islands. The larger race ''hercules'' occurs on the D'entrecasteaux Archipelago and Trobriand Islands. A local name in

Ketengban Ketengban, also known as ''Kupel'', is a Papuan language spoken in Pegunungan Bintang Regency, Highland Papua, Indonesia, near the Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country ...

is ''moro-moro''.

Description

Measuring 32–35 cm in length, the male and female are similar in appearance. The plumage is predominantly black and white, the bird bearing a black head, nape and throat, white underparts, rump, and back, and black and white mantle. The tail is black, with a broad white tip. The robust pale bluish-grey bill is hooked and tipped black. The iris is black or dark brown, and the legs and feet are dark grey to black. It can be distinguished from the

black-backed butcherbird The black-backed butcherbird (''Cracticus mentalis'') is a species of bird in the family Artamidae. It is found in southern New Guinea and Cape York Peninsula in Queensland, Australia. Taxonomy The black-backed butcherbird was first described ...

by its black throat. The hooded butcherbird has a complex fluting song, made up of many varied components. Birds may duet with each other, or mimic other species such as the

rusty pitohui The rusty pitohui (''Pseudorectes ferrugineus'') is a species of bird in the family Pachycephalidae. It is found throughout the lowlands of the Aru Islands and New Guinea. Taxonomy and systematics The rusty pitohui was originally classified with ...

, little shrikethrush, spangled drongo, or

helmeted friarbird The helmeted friarbird (''Philemon buceroides'') is part of the ''Meliphagidae'' family. The helmeted friarbird, along with all their subspecies, is commonly referred to as “leatherhead” by the birding community. Taxonomy The helmeted friarb ...

Distribution and habitat

Found on New Guinea and surrounding islands, the hooded butcherbird inhabits forested country mainly in lowland areas to elevations of 650 m, or occasionally 1450 m. It is fairly common and may also be found close to human habitation in coconut groves.

Behaviour

The hooded butcherbird is carnivorous. Birds are found in pairs or small family groups. Records indicate breeding may occur at any time.Coates, p. 369 Located on a branch 8.5–25 m above ground, the nest is a bowl constructed of twigs and sticks. Two or three pale olive-brown or -green eggs are laid, blotched darker brown and measuring 31.8-35.6 x 23.7-25.6 mm.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2941279

hooded butcherbird The hooded butcherbird (''Cracticus cassicus'') is a species of passerine bird in the family Artamidae. It is found in New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest. Taxonomy The hooded butcherbird was described ...

Birds of New Guinea

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot