Currawongs are three species of medium-sized passerine birds belonging to the genus Strepera in the family Cracticidae native to Australasia. These are the Grey Currawong (Strepera versicolor), Pied Currawong (S. graculina), and Black Currawong (S. fuliginosa). The common name comes from the call of the familiar Pied Currawong of eastern Australia and is onomatopoeic. They were formerly known as Crow-shrikes or Bell-magpies. Despite their resemblance to crows and ravens, they are only distantly related to the corvidae, instead belonging to an Afro-Asian radiation of birds of family Malaconotidae.

The true currawongs are a little larger than the Australian Magpie, somewhat smaller than most ravens, but broadly similar in appearance. They are easily distinguished by their yellow eyes, in contrast to the red eyes of a magpie and white eyes of Australian crows and ravens. Currawongs are also characterised by the hooked tips of their long, sharply pointed beaks.[1] They are not as terrestrial as the Magpie and have shorter legs. They are omnivorous, foraging in foliage, on tree trunks and limbs, and on the ground, taking insects and larvae (often dug out from under the bark of trees), fruit, and the nestlings of other birds. They are distinguishable from magpies and crows by their comical flight style in amongst foliage, appearing to almost fall about from branch to branch as if they were inept flyers.

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