Definition of "butcherbird"

butcherbird

noun
plural butcherbirds
1. Any of the magpie-like birds in the genus Cracticus, family Artamidae, of Australia and New Guinea.
  Quotations
  A butcher bird has stirred, tuned its flute with a few preparatory notes.
  1934, Henry G. Lamond, An Aviary On The Plains, page 47
  A short way off, two male butcher birds, black and white like magpies, were calling antiphonally across a ravine.
  1987, Bruce Chatwin, The Songlines, Vintage, published 1998, page 224
2. (US) Any of the shrikes in the genus Lanius.
3. (South Africa) The fiscal shrike, Lanius collaris.