White-winged Chough

The White-winged Chough is a large black bird of eastern Australian woodlands, notable for its bright red eye, curved black bill, and a flash of white on the wings that is normally hidden until the bird takes flight. Despite its common name, it is not closely related to the true choughs of Eurasia but belongs to a distinct family of Australian mudnesters. It lives and breeds in tight-knit cooperative groups.

Body plumage is entirely glossy black, and at rest the wings show no obvious pattern, but in flight a bold white patch on the base of the primary flight feathers becomes visible, flashing conspicuously against the dark body. The tail is long, black, and slightly graduated. The combination of an all-black perched appearance with hidden white wing flashes in flight is a key identification feature, along with the long down-curved black bill.

Sexes are alike in plumage, both black with the same white wing patch. Juveniles are similarly dark but show a duller, brownish-black cast and a paler eye that darkens and reddens with age. Adults have a single molt after breeding.

This species is found in eucalypt woodlands and forests of eastern Australia, favoring areas with open ground for foraging beneath a wooded canopy. It is largely sedentary, remaining on established group territories year-round.

White-winged Choughs live in cooperative family groups that forage together on the ground, turning over leaf litter and probing soil for invertebrates. They build large, distinctive bowl-shaped nests of mud reinforced with grass, placed on tree branches, and group members cooperate in raising young. Calls include soft, descending whistled notes and harsher chattering. Flight is somewhat labored with shallow wingbeats over short distances between trees.