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Noun: butcherbird  'bû-chu(r),burd
  1. Large carnivorous Australian bird with the shrike-like habit of impaling prey on thorns
    "The butcherbird's gruesome larder was visible on the acacia's thorns"
     
  2. Shrikes that impale their prey on thorns
    "The butcherbird's habit of creating a 'larder' of impaled prey was both fascinating and macabre"

Derived forms: butcherbirds

Type of: Australian magpie, shrike

Part of: Cracticus, genus Cracticus, genus Lanius, Lanius

Encyclopedia: Butcherbird