The silver-backed butcherbird (''Cracticus argenteus'') is a small,

shrike Shrikes () are passerine birds of the family Laniidae. The family is composed of 34 species in two genera. The family name, and that of the larger genus, '' Lanius'', is derived from the Latin word for "butcher", and some shrikes are also known ...

-like bird. It is almost identical to 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 ...

(''C. torquatus'') of which it considered by some authorities to be a subspecies, ''C. torquatus argenteus''. The species was first described by ornithologist

John Gould John Gould (; 14 September 1804 – 3 February 1881) was an English ornithologist who published monographs on birds, illustrated by plates produced by his wife, Elizabeth Gould (illustrator), Elizabeth Gould, and several other artists, includ ...

in 1836 as ''Cracticus argenteus''.

Description

The silver-backed butcherbird looks similar to the Grey butcherbird, except its back is lighter and silvery. This species is snappy and fearless, diving at humans and dogs near the nest. It may attack other birds like the spangled drongo or common koel.

Diet

It is a part-time

predator Predation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common List of feeding behaviours, feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation ...

but insects are also taken. It feeds on small lizards such as

skink Skinks are a type of lizard belonging to the family (biology), family Scincidae, a family in the Taxonomic rank, infraorder Scincomorpha. With more than 1,500 described species across 100 different taxonomic genera, the family Scincidae is one o ...

s and mice along with small birds that it snares and plucks out of the sky.

References

silver-backed butcherbird Birds of the Northern Territory Endemic birds of Australia silver-backed butcherbird {{Artamidae-stub