Black Currawong

Strepera fuliginosa colei

Length: 47-49 cm

Identification: Familiar large, black bird with massive, black bill; bright yellow eye and white tips to wings and tail.

Habits: Singles, pairs, winter flocks. Omnivorous diet of fruit, insects, carrion and small vertebrates. Forages on beaches amongst seaweed and on ground in pastures and forests. Forages on branches and in foliage. Distinctive voice.

Habitat: Wet and dry eucalypt forest and woodland, paperbark and blackwood swamp forest, coastal heath and scrub, beaches, pastures, homestead gardens.
Builds large stick nest in forks of paperbark, blackwood and eucalypt trees.

Range and Status: Widespread but patchily distributed. Range has contracted in recent decades. King Island population is an endemic subspecies. Considered locally common in 1960’s with winter flocks of 150. Population in decline. An uncommon to rare breeding resident. Conservation status Vulnerable (3).

Special Management: Monitor population in winter to determine population size and winter habitat. Monitor population in spring-summer to determine density of breeding pairs and breeding habitat and location. Study breeding ecology of forest raven and interactions with black currawong where they coexist.

Last Updated on 26 August 2021