this afternoon this bird sat on the edge of the bird bath. My first thought was a young Butcherbird. But I have seen a few baby Butcherbirds before, and they have brown backs and are more mottled. If I would live up north, I would say Black-backed Butcherbird, but we don't have those down here. It can't be a young Magpie, the chest is too white. So what do you think it is? The bird must have been attacked by some other animal, you can see the injury on it's neck. When I got a bit closer it flew off though.
Any idea what it might be?
close up to show the wound on the neck 
It looks like an immature Grey Butcher bird to me as they change from brownish to grey over time. They are frequent visitors to my yard and we have had many rescues. The white collar and beak are distinctive, the eye is brown and the various other markings seem right. Could not locate a photo of an immature one so attached a photo of an adult (sorry seem to have chopped his tail off) for comparison. sue
Thanks Sue. So that means this one was a bit older than the ones I saw last time, they were still light brown on the chest and a darker brown on the back.
I hope the poor bird will not get an infection , the wound looks nasty. I couldn't see the other side of the face, could have been bite marks of a cat.If you have a close look they might be teeth marks, looks like several punctures?
M-L
Yes I have often seen different aged juveniles with the adult birds in Sydney. This poor bird looks lucky to have survived. My wildlife rescuer daughter is here later today so I'll seek her opinion. Sue
Thanks for that Sue, I'd be intersted in what she says.
M-L
My daughter agrees that this is a young Grey Butcher bird. She thought that the wounds could be from bird strikes --- puncture wounds near the eye. That would be a better outcome than a cat bite which would most likely become infected and kill the bird. Let us know how it proceeds.
Thanks for your concern, I haven't seen the bird today, hope he'll survive.
M-L
Poor bird. I hope he's OK too.
Karen
Brisbane southside.
Poor little bugger. That is quite a significant wound.
Have you seen him about again?
- soakes
soakes
Olinda, Victoria, Australia
It's very sad, I haven't seen him again, not yesterday and not today. I didn't see the other side of his face either, who knows?
M-L