Many years ago I had the privilege of hearing two Pied Butcherbirds sing antiphonally and it was an experience that haunts me to this day. It's beauty is beyond belief.
I have a friendly one that spends all day at work just outside my office , i saved him from magpies last year when he was kicked out of his nest early , he eats from my hand and follows me if i walk out the front gate , his name is Gordon.
These are magpie-like birds in the genus Cracticus. A new taxonomy, supported by phylogenetic analyses, recently placed Australian magpies and currawongs in the same Cracticus genus. A musicologist said, on ABC Classics FM, that Australia's so-called "magpie" (no relation to the European magpie) is considered to be the world's greatest songbird. Its song can range across 3 octaves. It is the only bird that can sing chords. It incorporates all kinds of sounds Then each magpie practices and practices different sound combinations until it composes a totally unique song, whereas skylarks, canaries etc. songs are all same.
Wow, thanks for that. Interesting :-D I'm a Brit trying to get my head round what seem to be similar groups. From what I can see online butcherbirds and magpies are closely related. Is that right?
Jules A Yes scientists have decided that Australian "magpies" and butcherbirds are closely related. However their appearance, songs, and behaviour are quite distinctive, and obvious to anyone living in Australia.
Brenda Hickson There's apparently some confusion about the correct name for the Australian "magpie". The name I've found recently from several different sources is Gymnorhina tibicen. :)
Actually, they are not related, from entirely different geni - butcherbirds are 'cractici, whilst magpies are 'gymnorhinae' - both have the most beautiful songs!!
Although tame or semi-tame butcherbirds always let you know they are there for a feed, there is more to this than simply begging. Dueting is a pair-bonding behavior but also a territorial call to establish that this is their place--other butcherbirds stay away! In addition, butcherbirds just seem to love to sing and will often do it for 10 or 15 minutes in the wild. Sometimes together, sometimes solo. The solo singing is usually the male and includes mimicry of other birds. They have even been known to duet with Australian magpies.
I am an Aussie living in Germany. i just love the butcherbird and magpie song, and the kookaburras. Whenever I go home, I thrill to the morning chorus of birdsong. I know I am really home in Australia (Brisbane). Nowhere else in the world is the birdsong so beautiful. We need to do everything possible to protect our native wildlife.
I love these birds so much that I'm shit stirring my local ones with this video up loud ! They get closer and closer,listening,pausing and replying lol !
When I started to feed a Kookabara ( By hand ) a butcher bird came along and started singing. Kookabaras and butcher birds love diced steak cut in small pieces . But feed them ONLY once or twice a day as they could become dependent on it . Mine come in the early morning and late afternoon. They will let me know when they're there . I love them....
Me too. Same story. I worry if they get too dependent, but it helps me keep the baby Blue Tongued lizards off their menu. Sydney is blessed with Butcher birds & Magpies.
@@hibiscus1896 It is not illegal to feed native birds in NSW. It is not recommended and frowned upon by the experts and National Parks officials but it is not illegal.
Our ones sounds completely different. It’s like each flock speaks a different language. You can go a few metres down the road and they’d sound different
Hollis Taylor is one. He is a composer and musicologist. In his paper "Blowin' In Birdland--Improvisation and the Pied Butcherbird", he wrote down over twenty calls in musical notation and showed that outside a core set of eight or ten notes in their set calls, they seem to have an infinite capacity to improvise and vary. Doesn't surprise me as I have tamed and observed them and listened to them a lot, and they are highly intelligent animals indeed.
Can't find another reference at the moment. A couple of years back there was an item on Radio National's music show that I seem to remember mentioned another composer, but that may be a false memory. I am sure I have come across a reference to at least one other composer, but sorry, can't locate it. What is the subject of your thesis? If you can get in touch with Gisela Kaplan (maybe you already are) she may be able to help.
In Hollis Taylor's new book "Is Birdsong Music?" she names several composers who have included butcherbird songs, and in the notes for that chapter she references an online article where she lists over twenty composers who have used pied butcherbird songs. The book itself is about these birds as musicians.
This is wonderful! There was an item on ABC radio national science show some time ago about the songs of these birds; upshot was: not human music but still music. I agree with that; there is real counterpoint here. But, WTF, that was a magpie pushing in there! Who brung him?
Thanks for this - it helped me determine whether my barely-seen, clearly-heard dawn visitors were grey or pied butcherbirds. I love the juvenile magpie cameo at the end. Cheeky bastard.
Wonderful recital ! At 1:20 (and later), other pied butcher birds can be heard singing in the distance. It seems that they are listening to others singing and responding to them.
I heard these birds on the Gold Coast but didn't know what kind they were until now. There were 3 of them every morning singing together, they were beautiful to listen to.
Yes...Butcherbirds are one of the veritable psychopaths of the bird world. They look very handsome and they sound absolutely glorious but, make no mistake, what they get up to behind closed doors is not all pretty. They didn't get the moniker "butcher" for nothing! Thanks for the video, cheers from Oz! 🦘
That was just absolutely beautiful to watch and listen to. Thank you so much for taking the time to film these gorgeous creatures and post it. They remind me of the movie "Close Encounters of the 3rd kind" for some reason heh.
Ah, you were tipping the struggling street musicians. 😁 One day: _"Thank you, human. We are on Piedify now."_ They got the wrong name. Should be called Composerbird or at least Pied Piperbird.
Amazing this is why I love Australia! We are so lucky to have these birds here (yes even those swooping magpies 😂) I’m feeding a butcher bird in the morning just a bit of food and it’s amazing how they come to trust us.
@@deuterium2718 I moved from SEQ where they visited me daily and often started their day with a chorus of butcher bird favourite hits on the volume fail set on 11. I’ve only had one regular where I live in NSW. He’s really shy, sings in the morning in my front yard and occasionally is part of the pack of Noisey Minors and sundry free assorted birds. I’ve an open air compost system that the birds love going through. I find it odd that I had a whole extended family on the Gold Coast while here I’ve just a single BB. I know among other birds they are regular terrorists but I find them to be really special birds and have an affinity with them.
Every time I whistle a Butcher bird call, my little friend will fly over and sit on the fence. His name is Pringle because he absolutely LOVES pringles Lol.
We don’t have pied butcher birds in Victoria, but after moving to North East Vic several years ago I started to hear the morning song of a bird that I now know as, the grey shrike thrush ( say that 5 times quickly) and I was so amazed that I started to try and record the glorious performance. After going through the song many times I have found that their basic song has at least 25-30 variations, by adding notes at the start or at the end of each phrase and changing the length and order of each refrain, with occasional mimicry thrown in. I have heard the golden and rufous whistlers but they don’t compare to the beautiful, penetrating voice of the grey shrike thrush. If I can get a recording I am completely happy with I will upload it to RUclips.
@@jimcrawford5039 If you are talking about the pied butcherbird, they only occur in Victoria in the far Northwest around Mildura, there are definitely none further south. Grey butcherbirds are common in Melbourne and the grey shrike thrush is all over Australia, although I had never heard their song before moving to N/E Victoria and they were in my garden.
The masters of song! Pied pairs are so beautiful .. I have about 10 or so that visit me everyday for a cheeky treat of mince. They feed straight out of the hand and then sing for ages. Great video! I might do the same :)
Didn't know this small magpie relative had such good calls. Spent a little time in QLD so recognise in retrospect some familiar sounds. Hope they make it to SA, Noisy Miners and fruit bats are recent emigres so it's possible...
I have to ask, if these are regular visitors to your porch (and I'd assume they are) do you suppose they're singing to get your attention to feed them? It would seem so, especially since it appears to be facing you while singing. Ah! now I've reached the part where you do feed them. Assumption confirmed. Wonderful blessing you have in your part of the world, and "amazing" is the right word. Thank you, and thumbs up.
You're on the Gold Coast, right? I'd be surprised if not, as I recognised their unique chords as soon as I heard them. Their song is so beautiful. Thanks for posting.
The bird on the left is the one that woke me up each morning, is this kangaroo point as looks like the same apartment block we stayed in (November 15). Thankyou so much for posting, bought back lots of beautiful memories of our stay.
My favourite song in the morning . Although they sing differently everywhere across Australia! They will swoop like magpies and snap thier beaks at you and bite your ears .
I wish I had the privilege of listening to such melody. In the US the invasive European Starling brings a beautiful song that is almost similar but they are aggressively exterminated since they aren't native. 😪
@@patrickpersijn6477 mint, I'm excited . Hey il upload a butcher bird song I'm listning to now,I only recored it about 5 mins ago .... hes still out there singing now . Use it as well if you want:)
Many years ago I had the privilege of hearing two Pied Butcherbirds sing antiphonally and it was an experience that haunts me to this day. It's beauty is beyond belief.
I have a friendly one that spends all day at work just outside my office , i saved him from magpies last year when he was kicked out of his nest early , he eats from my hand and follows me if i walk out the front gate , his name is Gordon.
Get some footage ! Is Gordon still there ?do you still work with Gordon?
That name inspires a joke...
"A magpie and your butcherbird walk into a crow bar..."
(Gamer joke, I guess.)
What a nice name he has .
Your super sweet for doing that
These are magpie-like birds in the genus Cracticus. A new taxonomy, supported by phylogenetic analyses, recently placed Australian magpies and currawongs in the same Cracticus genus.
A musicologist said, on ABC Classics FM, that Australia's so-called "magpie" (no relation to the European magpie) is considered to be the world's greatest songbird.
Its song can range across 3 octaves. It is the only bird that can sing chords. It incorporates all kinds of sounds Then each magpie practices and practices different sound combinations until it composes a totally unique song, whereas skylarks, canaries etc. songs are all same.
Wow, thanks for that. Interesting :-D I'm a Brit trying to get my head round what seem to be similar groups. From what I can see online butcherbirds and magpies are closely related. Is that right?
Jules A
Yes scientists have decided that Australian "magpies" and butcherbirds are closely related. However their appearance, songs, and behaviour are quite distinctive, and obvious to anyone living in Australia.
Brenda Hickson
There's apparently some confusion about the correct name for the Australian "magpie". The name I've found recently from several different sources is Gymnorhina tibicen. :)
I only heard about the butcher birds music.
Actually, they are not related, from entirely different geni - butcherbirds are 'cractici, whilst magpies are 'gymnorhinae' - both have the most beautiful songs!!
I could listen to that all day. Beautiful.
Although tame or semi-tame butcherbirds always let you know they are there for a feed, there is more to this than simply begging. Dueting is a pair-bonding behavior but also a territorial call to establish that this is their place--other butcherbirds stay away! In addition, butcherbirds just seem to love to sing and will often do it for 10 or 15 minutes in the wild. Sometimes together, sometimes solo. The solo singing is usually the male and includes mimicry of other birds. They have even been known to duet with Australian magpies.
Because you have made them dependent on you. A form of self gratification for you but they can survive without you.
@@hibiscus1896 No ,they are Butcher Birds this is just ever so slightly slowing the butchering of other birds in exchange for a nice song . Grow up
*My theory* The mimicry of other birds is the butcher bird's way of describing his territory, from aural memory, vocally.
@@hibiscus1896 don't be a such a bitter kk)unt
I am an Aussie living in Germany. i just love the butcherbird and magpie song, and the kookaburras.
Whenever I go home, I thrill to the morning chorus of birdsong. I know I am really home in Australia (Brisbane).
Nowhere else in the world is the birdsong so beautiful.
We need to do everything possible to protect our native wildlife.
Makes me wish I could live near them ( I'm West Coast USA. ) One of my chicken hens sang along with the duo for about three repetitions.
Grax McCoar, look at bird bath
I love these birds so much that I'm shit stirring my local ones with this video up loud ! They get closer and closer,listening,pausing and replying lol !
When I started to feed a Kookabara ( By hand ) a butcher bird came along and started singing.
Kookabaras and butcher birds love diced steak cut in small pieces . But feed them ONLY once or twice a day as they could become dependent on it . Mine come in the early morning and late afternoon. They will let me know when they're there . I love them....
Me too. Same story. I worry if they get too dependent, but it helps me keep the baby Blue Tongued lizards off their menu. Sydney is blessed with Butcher birds & Magpies.
It's illegal in NSW to feed native birds and steak actually isn't good for them, look up the National Parks fact sheet on it.
@@hibiscus1896 It is not illegal to feed native birds in NSW. It is not recommended and frowned upon by the experts and National Parks officials but it is not illegal.
@@frednerk3477 It is in our shire. A $2700 fine for good reason
@@hibiscus1896 get back on your HRT - you're extra crabbit lately - and everyone hates it. And you.
Very evocative indeed of Australia. Thank you for posting such a perfect example of Butcher Bird song. A veritable masterpiece!
Go the butcher love you guys. 💚💛🇦🇺
What a cacophony of sweet birds sound. I can imagine waking up for their calling.
that was the highlight of my trip to oz. listening to their song reverberating off the high rise apartements at 4.3o am
Our ones sounds completely different. It’s like each flock speaks a different language. You can go a few metres down the road and they’d sound different
SeppuKun, look at bird bath
The best singers in Australia! At least three Australian orchestral composers have included the call in their works
Hollis Taylor is one. He is a composer and musicologist. In his paper "Blowin' In Birdland--Improvisation and the Pied Butcherbird", he wrote down over twenty calls in musical notation and showed that outside a core set of eight or ten notes in their set calls, they seem to have an infinite capacity to improvise and vary. Doesn't surprise me as I have tamed and observed them and listened to them a lot, and they are highly intelligent animals indeed.
Can't find another reference at the moment. A couple of years back there was an item on Radio National's music show that I seem to remember mentioned another composer, but that may be a false memory. I am sure I have come across a reference to at least one other composer, but sorry, can't locate it. What is the subject of your thesis? If you can get in touch with Gisela Kaplan (maybe you already are) she may be able to help.
Hollis Taylor has just published a book about birdsong, "Is Birdsong Music? Outback Encounters with an Australian Songbird".
In Hollis Taylor's new book "Is Birdsong Music?" she names several composers who have included butcherbird songs, and in the notes for that chapter she references an online article where she lists over twenty composers who have used pied butcherbird songs. The book itself is about these birds as musicians.
We also shouldn’t forget the Lyrebird whose origins are ancient
So, amazing and fascinating I love the birds.
Adam A Karu, look at bird bath
Wow, aren't those two birds just amazing?
This is wonderful! There was an item on ABC radio national science show some time ago about the songs of these birds; upshot was: not human music but still music. I agree with that; there is real counterpoint here. But, WTF, that was a magpie pushing in there! Who brung him?
@@xodarap incredible
such lovely birds with beautiful voices , I love these little guys , clever friendly and interesting companions.
Great video, thank you so much for sharing this beautiful duet!
My favourite bird songs! Love them waking me up every morning in Brissy! :)
This is fantastic...love the two singing...
Wondrously beautiful in sound. And superb in plumage. Iconic bird of Australia 💚🐾
Its beautiful....you are so lucky to have the birds come over .....and sing on your balcony
Thanks for this - it helped me determine whether my barely-seen, clearly-heard dawn visitors were grey or pied butcherbirds. I love the juvenile magpie cameo at the end. Cheeky bastard.
Wonderful recital ! At 1:20 (and later), other pied butcher birds can be heard singing in the distance. It seems that they are listening to others singing and responding to them.
This is wonderful. Such beautiful voices and so in harmony.
Love them. ❤❤❤❤❤❤
After hearing the song of the last bird of its kind sing a mating duet, I needed this
same
I heard these birds on the Gold Coast but didn't know what kind they were until now.
There were 3 of them every morning singing together, they were beautiful to listen to.
Thank you.
When my birds are awake, I'll have to see how they respond.
Yes...Butcherbirds are one of the veritable psychopaths of the bird world. They look very handsome and they sound absolutely glorious but, make no mistake, what they get up to behind closed doors is not all pretty. They didn't get the moniker "butcher" for nothing! Thanks for the video, cheers from Oz! 🦘
That was just absolutely beautiful to watch and listen to. Thank you so much for taking the time to film these gorgeous creatures and post it. They remind me of the movie "Close Encounters of the 3rd kind" for some reason heh.
Beautiful sounding birds.
Ah, you were tipping the struggling street musicians. 😁
One day: _"Thank you, human. We are on Piedify now."_
They got the wrong name. Should be called Composerbird or at least Pied Piperbird.
Dowlphwin, look at bird bath
Amazing this is why I love Australia! We are so lucky to have these birds here (yes even those swooping magpies 😂) I’m feeding a butcher bird in the morning just a bit of food and it’s amazing how they come to trust us.
I have three grey butçher birds that visit me daily what amazes me is how loud they are when they start to sing. Plus they are really polite
leaves your ears ringing when they start competing over who can be the loudest right in front of you lol
@@deuterium2718 I moved from SEQ where they visited me daily and often started their day with a chorus of butcher bird favourite hits on the volume fail set on 11. I’ve only had one regular where I live in NSW. He’s really shy, sings in the morning in my front yard and occasionally is part of the pack of Noisey Minors and sundry free assorted birds. I’ve an open air compost system that the birds love going through. I find it odd that I had a whole extended family on the Gold Coast while here I’ve just a single BB. I know among other birds they are regular terrorists but I find them to be really special birds and have an affinity with them.
Every time I whistle a Butcher bird call, my little friend will fly over and sit on the fence. His name is Pringle because he absolutely LOVES pringles Lol.
We don’t have pied butcher birds in Victoria, but after
moving to North East Vic several years ago I started
to hear the morning song of a bird that I now know as,
the grey shrike thrush ( say that 5 times quickly) and
I was so amazed that I started to try and record the
glorious performance. After going through the song
many times I have found that their basic song has at
least 25-30 variations, by adding notes at the start or
at the end of each phrase and changing the length
and order of each refrain, with occasional mimicry
thrown in. I have heard the golden and rufous whistlers
but they don’t compare to the beautiful, penetrating
voice of the grey shrike thrush. If I can get a recording
I am completely happy with I will upload it to RUclips.
They certainly are in Victoria, in Melbourne suburbs too.
@@jimcrawford5039
If you are talking about the pied butcherbird, they only occur in Victoria in the far
Northwest around Mildura, there are definitely none further south.
Grey butcherbirds are common in Melbourne and the grey shrike thrush is all over
Australia, although I had never heard their song before moving to N/E Victoria and
they were in my garden.
Wonderful, thanks for sharing. xo The butchies in Melbourne have a quite different song.
They are the coolest birds
太可愛了。我住在Queensland,Brisbane每天早晨4:30都會聽到鳥在唱歌。每天固定的時間，但是始終無法辨別出她們的聲音。你能拍到真幸運。
The masters of song! Pied pairs are so beautiful .. I have about 10 or so that visit me everyday for a cheeky treat of mince. They feed straight out of the hand and then sing for ages. Great video! I might do the same :)
This is wonderful and very interesting.
Thank you for sharing.
Very cool.. very melodic! Singing for their supper at the end. Thank you.
This is superb. Thank you for posting.
Close Encounters of the Third Kind? =)
I was thinking the same thing when I heard the tune :D
More like close encounters if the Bird Kind hahaha
Like at 1:26! Maybe that's where they got the idea from in the movie - someone was a fan of these amazing birds.
Didn't know this small magpie relative had such good calls.
Spent a little time in QLD so recognise in retrospect some familiar sounds.
Hope they make it to SA, Noisy Miners and fruit bats are recent emigres so it's possible...
Listen carefully; you will hear another bird responding from a distance. These two send back their identification songs.
Amazing and beautiful!
Their calls are definitely saying something, coordinated, timed to response from surrounds, very interesting.
Extraordinary footage. Well done
ProLearning, look at bird bath
I have to ask, if these are regular visitors to your porch (and I'd assume they are) do you suppose they're singing to get your attention to feed them? It would seem so, especially since it appears to be facing you while singing.
Ah! now I've reached the part where you do feed them. Assumption confirmed.
Wonderful blessing you have in your part of the world, and "amazing" is the right word. Thank you, and thumbs up.
6:18 it's duet partner didn't deliver :( abandoned. Great video, LOVE these birds :)
Wow what a great video! Thanks!
This is so wonderful, thanks so much for posting :-D
Exquisite. Thank you for sharing it. What is it about the butcherbird timbre that is so gorgeous?
Catherine Watson, look at bird bath
If I give them a feed I can nearly guarantee something like 15 minutes of song with little to no repetition.
They are brilliant singers.
Beautiful thank you! Think i heard a bit of kookaburra at about 3:13 and some more times. ?
Also other butchers singing from further way ?
Wombat, look at bird bath
You're on the Gold Coast, right? I'd be surprised if not, as I recognised their unique chords as soon as I heard them. Their song is so beautiful. Thanks for posting.
Close encounters of the bird kind.
How lovely!
Shannyn Wiggins, look at bird bath
This is so cute!
Just like Christmas caroling in the Philippines. Lol
The bird on the left is the one that woke me up each morning, is this kangaroo point as looks like the same apartment block we stayed in (November 15). Thankyou so much for posting, bought back lots of beautiful memories of our stay.
Jacy Roseanne looks like Gold Coast😊
I feel asleep to their beautiful song
Jose Molina, look at bird bath
You're so lucky to have that in suburbia! We had them on a property, so lovely and evocative. Are you on gold coast 🤔?
Special looking bird saw one at my place
Delightful duet
In central Australia butcher birds have a different and unique song
so FLUFFYYYYYY
Love these birds.....have them in my garden but not pied varitey.
Just fascinating!
Pauli Dinkelocker, look at bird bath
I like that the tones are not in the 'western' scale - composers like Mahler listened to bird song and used it in his compositions.
Avalina Kreska, look at bird bath
oh wow - it's like that low growly end warble is like a comma or full stop in the conversation
Good acoustics on the terrace
probably great acoustics too.
It is better than Christmas carols in 2023
Wonderful.
joy rutherford, look at bird bath
Amazing
This is so cool !
Daily my childhood, look at bird bath
Incredible!
My favourite song in the morning . Although they sing differently everywhere across Australia! They will swoop like magpies and snap thier beaks at you and bite your ears .
They want to watch Close Encounters of the Third Kind again.
Tommy Baker, look at bird bath
Superb.
Are you near Glenelg ? Looks like the trees at Glenelg. Lovely video. Thank you very much.
Bunny Darling, look at bird bath
So fat and cute, i want to hug the shit out of them. So adorable. I have 5 and they are all fat af. My babies😍
reminds me of the kauioo bird
The bird on the right is pretty good!
Jim Trainor, look at bird bath
They sound like what movies play for alien movies
Superstar, look at bird bath
Sooo coool.
The first one seems to be singing the sound of someone's cell phone ringing.
💛👀🐥
I wish I had the privilege of listening to such melody.
In the US the invasive European Starling brings a beautiful song that is almost similar but they are aggressively exterminated since they aren't native. 😪
Sounds like the opening notes of grand musical item. Or are they begging for food.
can I use the sounds for a song?
Yes ,just link the song back here . No one owns the birds calls
@@madsnoop7 ok, when finished, I put here the link..:)
@@patrickpersijn6477 mint, I'm excited . Hey il upload a butcher bird song I'm listning to now,I only recored it about 5 mins ago .... hes still out there singing now . Use it as well if you want:)
Also I'm your 1st subscriber lol congrats hahaha
Can I ask where in Australia your birds are? Thanks, Hollis
Hollis Taylor these little guys..& girls!...are native to Eastern Australia
Oh & this vid has a very distinctive Gold Coast background 😉
These Magpies were at Port Fairy in southern Victoria
At least this brother is still alive
Slender Man, look at bird bath
How did you attract them ? What do they feed on ?
I Forgot to say that you'll have to be very patient if you want to feed them by hand ... They'll have to trust you first ..
GOOD LUCK ... !
Meat
Wow, they sound so similar to the Tui
Ben Rogue, look at bird bath
nice