Melloria quoyi
In 3 days <5%
The black butcherbird (Melloria quoyi) is a species of butcherbird in the family Artamidae. It is found in Australia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, and subtropical or tropical mangrove forest.
Evidence was published in a 2013 molecular study which showed that it is closest relative to the Australian magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen). The ancestor to the two species is thought to have split from the other butcherbirds between 8.3 and 4.2 million years ago, during the late Miocene to early Pliocene, while the two species themselves diverged sometime during the Pliocene (5.8–3.0 million years ago).
The adult is black all over except for its beak which is black-tipped grey. Most juveniles are rufous-brown. Confusingly, some juveniles are black while some brown young birds may rarely retain their brown colour into adulthood. As the only butcherbirds with wholly black bodies, they are sometimes confused with crows or currawongs, from which they are distinguished by their gray and hooked bills.
In Papua New Guinea, Black butcherbirds have... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Daintree National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | Raja Ampat | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 3 | Kakadu National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Detroit Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Black Butcherbird sighting in Kakadu National Park on a given day, based on 8 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 175th most-seen of the 186 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Black Butcherbird in Kakadu National Park on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season. February has too few records to rate.
Between 3 and 6 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Black Butcherbird sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 3
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Black Butcherbird sightings, Kakadu National Park ranks 3rd at under 5%. The best odds are in Daintree National Park (Australia, about 70%) and Raja Ampat (Indonesia, about 10%).
Same genus: Cracticus
The closest relatives of the Black Butcherbird that you can see in Kakadu National Park (genus Cracticus, Typical Butcherbirds) are Pied Butcherbird (about 10%) and Grey Butcherbird (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Black Butcherbird is recorded against all the birds logged in Kakadu National Park (8 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
