Black Butcherbird - rufous morph (Cracticus quoyi)

These are very 'shy' birds but come quite readily to play back (or in my case- very poor butcherbird 'yodelling' imperonations!). The rufous morph of the Black Butcherbird is only present in the subspecies rufescens, which is the most southern subspecies on the Cape York Peninsula, QLD. Curiously rufous individuals are not found in the subspecies jardini even though these two subspecies have quite a broad zone of contact. Nor are they found in the Northern Territory subspecies spaldingi or the PNG subspecies quoyi.