What does "butcherbird" mean?

Any of the magpie-like birds in the genus Cracticus, of Australia and New Guinea.

Butcherbird

Common synonyms include: jacky hanger, jacky hanger, jacky hangman, jacky hangman, red backed shrike, red-backed shrike.

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Noun

1
Any of the magpie-like birds in the genus Cracticus, of Australia and New Guinea.
"A butcher bird has stirred, tuned its flute with a few preparatory notes."
2
large carnivorous Australian bird with the shrike-like habit of impaling prey on thorns wordnet
3
Any of the shrikes in the genus Lanius.
4
shrikes that impale their prey on thorns wordnet
5
Any of the shrikes in the genus Lanius.; The fiscal shrike, Lanius collaris. South-Africa

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

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

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.