Small, short-tailed shrike with a heavy-headed appearance.
At a glance
Sounds
Range map
Range map
Aggregated occurance data is sourced from 14 different actively-updating datasets including eBird Australia, iNaturalist Australia, BirdLife Australia, and multiple state-based bird surveys through Atlas of Living Australia.
Species notes
Overview
Male has an ash-gray head, an inky black mask, white underparts, and scaly chestnut wings. Female is less contrasting, with a patchy brown-and-gray crown, a smaller black mask, and black barring on the flanks and wings. Juveniles have brown heads and backs, and a brown-scaled belly; due to their lack of a mask, they have a large-eyed appearance. Juveniles can be similar to juvenile Bull-headed and Brown shrikes, but both of those species have faint but visible masks.
Behavior
Hunts insects and other small animals from perches, dropping onto prey before returning to cover to feed.
Gallery