other names
Western Magpie

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DESCRIPTION

Male: White back from nape to tale. Glossy black chest, head and whings with white shoulders and wing band. Eye red / brown.

Female: Nape and back are greyer in colour, duller black.

Juvenile: Duller colours and more mottled, bill shorter and greyer in colour, eye black.

Voice: Call is a loud shout and descending caw in alarm or warning; shrieking yodel in aggression. Young beg with whining cawing. Song is organ-like fluted carolling, often in group duets

The Magpie is one of Australia's best known birds and is quite common throughout the continent. It is found in bushland, farmland, cities and country towns in all states and territories, although there are several sub-species, being the Black-Backed, White-Backed, Tasmanian and Western Magpies. The Magpie has a caroling song which is really a call to pronounce it's permanent territory. It lives in a complex social system, usually in a family group with a dominant male, a few females, sub-ordinate males, juveniles and fledglings. Each group normally has one dominant female where the flocks defense and support are concentrated. Smaller groups of displaced Magpies, without a permanent territory, are at the bottom of the social ladder. The Magpie is often seen as an aggressive bird in breeding season, swooping on unsuspecting people and animals to defend it's nests. However, if the bird is left alone and not threatened it will tend not to attack intruders. Breeding season is from June to December. The nest is built in forks of trees, usually high in the tree canopy. Between 1 and 6 eggs can be laid and is normally incubated by the female for 20 days. The young are fed by the females and males. Young fledge at about 28 days but stay at heel for several weeks, being fed by both it's parents until it is evicted or becomes a lesser member of the group.