Page "Pied Currawong" Paragraph 2

The Pied Currawong was first described by English ornithologist George Shaw in 1790 as Coracias strepera, although Strepera was adopted as a generic name.

Its binomial names were derived from the Latin strepera, meaning " noisy ", and graculina for resembling a Jackdaw.

Pied Crow-shrike is an old vernacular name from colonial days, and the term " pied " refers to two or more colors in blotches.

Other common names include Pied Chillawong, Currawang, Charawack, Kurrawack, Tallawong, Tullawong, Mutton-bird, Otway Forester, and Pied Afternoon-tea Bird.

The onomatopoeic term currawong itself is derived from the bird's call.

However, predation by Pied Currawongs has been a factor in the decline of Gould's Petrel at a colony on Cabbage Tree Island, near Port Stephens in New South Wales ; currawongs have been reported preying on adult seabirds.

Their removal from the islands halted a decline of the threatened petrels.

Furthermore, a University of New England study published in 2006 reported that the breeding success rates for the Eastern Yellow Robin ( Eopsaltria australis ) and Scarlet Robin ( Petroica boodang ) on the New England Tablelands were improved after nests were protected and currawongs culled, and some Yellow Robins even re-colonised an area where they had become locally extinct.

The presence of Pied Currawongs in Sydney gardens is negatively correlated with the presence of Silvereyes ( Zosterops lateralis ).