Butcherbird stalks Lizard

Butcherbirds are skilful hunters and one of their favourite food are small lizards. The lizard in this video is a Broad-banded Sandswimmer (Eremiascincus richardsonii}. We have a healthy population of these lizards living in this area. They tend to be mostly active at night, but on warm evenings they can be seen at dusk hunting insects. The Butcherbird comes to sit quietly on a rock waiting fore a Sandswimmer to come out into the open so it can pounce on it. This Butcherbird was filmed on a warm evening as the sun was setting and there were many insects fluttering about. The perfect conditions to lure the Sandswimmers out of hiding. And yes, we believe the Butcherbird caught one, although we were not quick enough to film it. And no, it was not the Sandswimmer featured in this video. The footage of the Sandswimmer was filmed in the same location, at a different time and added to the video for dramatic effect, reenacting an actual event. The bird featured in this video is a Grey Butcherbird and the background audio is the melodic call of a Pied Butcherbird. Both of these species nest on our property.

#bird
#nature
#australianbirds