butcherbird

butcher +‎ bird, from its habit of hanging its prey.

butcherbird (plural butcherbirds)

1. Any of the magpie-like birds in the genus Cracticus, family Artamidae, of Australia and New Guinea.
   • 1934, Henry G. Lamond, An Aviary On The Plains, page 47:

     A butcher bird has stirred, tuned its flute with a few preparatory notes.

   • 1987, Bruce Chatwin, The Songlines, Vintage, published 1998, page 224:

     A short way off, two male butcher birds, black and white like magpies, were calling antiphonally across a ravine.

2. (US) Any of the shrikes in the genus Lanius.
3. (South Africa) The fiscal shrike, Lanius collaris.

• Jacky Hanger
• Jacky Hangman
• red-backed shrike

• black butcherbird