Bird Australian Magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen)

[auscraft]

Common Name: Australian Magpie

Scientific name: Gymnorhina tibicen

Family: Artamidae

Order: Passeriformes

Other Names: N/A

Distribution: Australia .

Habitat: found wherever there is a combination of trees and adjacent open areas.

Field Notes:black and white, but the plumage pattern varies across its range. Its nape, upper tail and shoulder are white in males, grey in females.

Photos by Auscraft, 2011. My Yard, QLD

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Photo By Auscraft Sept 2011

 

[auscraft]

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Here pictured the rear of magpie showing it is from the black backed group of magpies this race is terraereginae. there are nine variable races in two major (white backed or black backed) groups with hybrid zones between them.

Take a close look at your local you maybe able to list different races.

 

[J.K.M]

Here are a shot of the the smaller and white-backed race of Australian Magpie found in Tasmania (including Flinders and King Island) - ( G. tibicen hypoleuca )


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[auscraft]

Great pics

 

[Redtail]

Here's a Western Magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen dorsalis), photographed by a fellow bushwalker at Walyunga NP (east of Perth in the Avon Valley) on the weekend.

He looked liked the alpha male of the group, from his behaviour and the full white back (dorsal) - not unlike the "White-backed", but much broader [didn't get a photo that shows that very well].
He was very inquisitive, used to humans, and kept calling for food!

 

[Tezza]

Nothing better than the chortle of a Magpie in the morning when out in the sticks

 

[GTVi]

Nothing better than the chortle of a Magpie in the morning when out in the sticks

...Yep and they sound the same in Collingwood too...lol

 

[Mozzie]

a nice close up shot, love the keen eye. Taken Bass Point Reserve, Illawarra NSW....and yes love the Maggi chortle



youngster

 

[Hairyman]

Youngster transitioning into adult plumage.

 

[Tezza]

...Yep and they sound the same in Collingwood too...lol

C'arn the mighty Pies!

 

[J.K.M]

Here is another shot of the the smaller and white-backed race of Australian Magpie found in Tasmania (including Flinders and King Island) - ( G. tibicen hypoleuca )

View attachment 7647

 

[Eugenio Coscarelli]

Not sure if anyone else has experienced this but would like to advise that have seen magpie clans killing other magpies on two occasions. There would have been more except for the fact that I intervened. First case was a young one literally stood on by one bird and pecked to death by this and another in the head region. Second case was magpie must have come into the territory of those in local park and was initially swooped and then chased in mid air by 6 others and eventually forced to ground where it was set upon by up to 11 birds and finished it off quite quickly. I have tried to find further information either in text books or on internet and what I have come across is very scant and only mentions the magpies being attacked but not killed. Wondering if anyone else has seen this type of extreme territorial behaviour, would be interested to know. Thanks for reading.

 

[Aussie123]

Not sure if anyone else has experienced this but would like to advise that have seen magpie clans killing other magpies on two occasions. There would have been more except for the fact that I intervened. First case was a young one literally stood on by one bird and pecked to death by this and another in the head region. Second case was magpie must have come into the territory of those in local park and was initially swooped and then chased in mid air by 6 others and eventually forced to ground where it was set upon by up to 11 birds and finished it off quite quickly. I have tried to find further information either in text books or on internet and what I have come across is very scant and only mentions the magpies being attacked but not killed. Wondering if anyone else has seen this type of extreme territorial behaviour, would be interested to know. Thanks for reading.

I haven't seen magpies kill each other, but they are certainly very territorial and aggressive during mating season.
Every year people are attacked by swooping magpies. Many councils will put up signs alerting people to the danger of nesting magpies nearby.

If you walk near a nest they will swoop very low over your head and hit your head with their wings as a warning. If you go closer they will attack !

Some push bike cyclists attach false eyes to the back of their bike helmets as a deterrent and protection from the birds,
the magpies are either deterred because they think a predator may be watching them, or they simply attack the false eyes, rather than your actual eyes !

Some cyclists also put cable ties on their helmets, like “spikes” sticking into the air as a deterrent too.

 

[Dusty Miller]

I watched a large group of currawongs and three or four crows squabbling and jockeying for position when feeding, along came a magpie and all of them backed away and gave the bird a wide birth. For some reason they were all obviously wary of the (smaller) bird.

 

[Hairyman]

Its the life game they play .... psyco bird. Everyone respects a psyco.

 

[AussiePreppers]

I have seen magpies kill each other in those circumstances and also just 2 fighting so bad they were both bleeding profusely and got back into it as soon as i broke it up. I despise people that harm magpies while protecting their young - take another route or take your kids to a different park. If I thought you meant my kids harm I'd do the same.

The most brutal bird fight I've seen was when a magpie landed a few meters from a fledgling kookaburra with its parents. They killed that magpie on the spot, no questions asked.

 

[Bernoulli]

Magpies are very smart. They are one of a few animals that understand they are seeing their own reflection when they look into a mirror - along with us, elephants and dolphins.

I have been feeding them for a couple of years along with a pied butcher bird family and an occasional currawong. I find them all intelligent with markedly individualistic personalities. I've fed juvenile magpies that are ready to take on all comers as well as some that just smoke another joint and kick back listening to the music.

I have seen juveniles play - supposedly the only bird species that does, but I've also seen butcher bird juveniles play - they are part of the same family.

 

[Wildfire]

We have a particularly nasty pair of magpies in our local area. Kids and the mrs cant walk out of the house without getting swooped and the nesting tree is around 250 metres away! I understand they are protecting their young but this pair have drawn blood several times on my young boys head and face. Im afraid if they were ever in my back yard I would return the favour.......

 

[GTVi]

I tend to avoid areas I know Magpies will their nest during their season, or get out quick if I stumble upon them. I live surrounded by reserves and parks, I've never had an issue with them. Occasionally I get the odd piping shrike groom himself and playing with the car mirror. its fun to watch.

I have a regular that visits me in the work shop, just casually walks by the door, and I just say hello, and he wonders off...walking around the yard.