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Australian Magpie

Cracticus tibicen dorsalis

Photo by Elbereth
Published on Project Noah
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Field Notes

Description:

The adult Australian Magpie is a fairly robust bird ranging from 37–43 cm (14.5–17 in) in length, with distinctive black and white plumage, red eyes and a solid wedge-shaped bluish-white and black bill. The male and female are similar in appearance, and can be distinguished by differences in back markings. With its long legs, the Australian Magpie walks rather than waddles or hops and spends much time on the ground

Habitat:

Common and widespread, it has adapted well to human habitation and is a familiar bird of parks, gardens and farmland in Australia and New Guinea. Magpies were introduced into New Zealand in the 1860s and are proving to be a pest by displacing native birds

Reference Links:

http://www.eol.org/pages/917459, Australian Magpie

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (4)
Jacob Gorneau
Hello Elbereth, You have some gorgeous spottings! I have edited your spotting to move the scientific name from the common name field to the scientific name field.
lori.tas
It would be interesting to learn which subspecies (and if more than one was) of Australian Magpies were initially introduced. You could have hybrids. There are at least eight subspecies in Australia, divided into white-backed and black-backed groups. Not surprisingly I think the Tasmanian magpie is the prettiest. I'll post a pic of ours so you can compare.
Elbereth
Thank you for the clarification, ;)
lori.tas
Looks like a female Western Magpie (C. tibicen dorsalis). Sorry about the Australian pest species, especially the possums.

Spotted for Missions

Mission
WILD Cities: Urban Biodiversity
Photographed
PublishedOctober 29, 2010

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