Apostlebird

Struthidea cinerea

Named for travelling in groups of roughly twelve. Cooperative breeders sharing feeding, nest-building, and probably opinions.

Population: Not numerically quantified by IUCN/BirdLife; number of mature individuals listed as unknown, population described as common with a stable trend, over an estimated extent of occurrence of ~3,950,000 km²
Habitat: Open dry woodlands and forests (Callitris in NSW, Casuarina in Queensland), typically near water; also farmland with trees, roadsides, orchards, golf courses, and rural/urban parks
Fun fact: Apostlebirds are named for their habit of foraging in tight-knit groups of roughly a dozen (sometimes up to 30), which early settlers likened to the twelve biblical apostles, and they are cooperative breeders in the mud-nest-building family Corcoracidae, whose non-breeding relatives help build the large mud-bowl nest and feed the chicks.
Range: Endemic to inland eastern Australia: from lower Cape York Peninsula and central-western Queensland (incl. Gulf Country) through New South Wales to northern Victoria and eastern South Australia (Naracoorte to Mount Lofty Ranges), with an isolated population near Elliott/Katherine, Northern Territory
Diet: Omnivorous ground forager: seeds and vegetable matter, insects and other invertebrates, occasionally small vertebrates; diet shifts toward seeds in autumn/winter
Size: 0.31 m
Wingspan: 0.5 m
Lifespan: 15 years

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