Pied Currawong

A word or two in favour of a bird that is often the subject of some bad press.

Pied Currawong, Strepera graculina

The Melbourne Advocate, 1941: “…And currawongs to feed – stream-lined, querulous, anxious-voiced with greed. Bird of shallow merit with catchpenny cry …”

Corowa Free Press in May 1944: “It may not be generally known that the currawongs – those big black birds which visit at this time of year – are edible, and make a very tasty dish. Currawong soup, or roast currawong, or currawong pie are all favoured. At the present time roast currawong and mushrooms would be a highly appealing meal. There are no coupons required for currawongs either.” (Given today’s press, ‘roast currawong and mushrooms’ would perhaps be a recipe best avoided!)

And much more recently, even our own BirdLife Australia: “The 'Currawong problem' is a case of a predator getting out of control. The population of Pied Currawongs, Strepera graculina, on the east coast of Australia is believed to have increased dramatically with the creation of this favourable habitat by humans. Pied Currawongs are voracious nest predators with a strong negative influence on smaller birds in some areas.”

Anyway, there are many reasons why some say the Pied Currawong is wrongfully maligned.

Yes, one of the favoured menu items of the Pied Currawong is small birds: wrens, thornbills, robins, etc. but they also take starlings and blackbirds, even Spotted Doves. In this part of the world, we are blessed with a good number of small bush birds that call Drouin, and its environs, home. So consequently, we are going to get visits from Pied Currawongs – they are one good indicator of the presence of small birds.

If you have a bush garden that attracts small birds, try to ensure there is plenty of understory cover for them to protect them from marauding currawongs.

Other favourite foods in the currawong’s diet include insects, lizards, mice, fruit and carrion – some positive news there.

On the other side of the ledger, snakes, monitors and falcons are known to prey upon currawongs, and some cuckoos will parasitize their nests.

Adult currawong feeding a 'baby' Channel-billed Cuckoo
Photo credit: fieldofmar-e.schools.nsw.gov

Most of the Pied Currawongs in our district are altitudinal migrants. Just now they have come down from the high country and their numbers have grown. In summer, most will go back up into the mountains to breed.

Their evocative calls are ringing through our streets and parks at present. The variously described ‘hark-hark-the-lark’ or the onomatopoeic ‘curra-wong-curra-wong’ call is most familiar.

There are several races of Pied Currawongs. In this district we seem to mostly have ssp ashbyi, a bird with a slaty grey body rather than straight black, although…(?)

Pied Currawongs are closely related to butcherbirds and in fact have a hooked bill just like the Grey Butcherbird. Both birds can tear their prey apart and apparently, both species will ‘hang’ their prey in the fork of a tree while they do this.

Now come on, isn’t that an interesting bird worth celebrating rather than besmerching?