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 four genera. The family name, and that of the largest genus, '' Lanius'', is derived from the Latin word for "butcher", and some shrikes are also kno ...

-like bird. It is almost identical to the grey butcherbird (''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. He published a number of monographs on birds, illustrated by plates produced by his wife, Elizabeth Gould, and several other artists, including Edward Lear, ...

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 where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill ...

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

skink Skinks are lizards belonging to the family Scincidae, a family in the infraorder Scincomorpha. With more than 1,500 described species across 100 different taxonomic genera, the family Scincidae is one of the most diverse families of lizards. S ...

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