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Rookery
Australian Magpie, a rare bird in Roost
  • Australian Magpie, profile

    Profile

  • Australian Magpie, in flight

    In flight

Clever Corvids

Australian Magpie

Gymnorhina tibicen (some taxonomies place it as Cracticus tibicen)

  • rare
  • 46 km/h
  • Least Concern

Carolling song is one of the most complex in the world. Remembers human faces for years, and holds grudges.

Population
No precise global figure published; BirdLife/IUCN describe it as common to abundant in coastal and agricultural areas, sparse in the arid interior, with a suspected increasing population trend
Habitat
Open habitats with scattered trees — grassland, farmland, parks, gardens, golf courses, and urban/suburban streets, typically near woodland edges
Fun fact
Australian Magpies can individually recognize at least 100 different human faces and are less likely to swoop people they've learned to be familiar with.
Range
Most of mainland Australia excluding the tip of Cape York and the Gibson/Great Sandy Deserts, and the Trans-Fly region of southern New Guinea; ABSENT from southwestern Tasmania (present elsewhere on the island). Introduced and established in New Zealand (now treated as a pest there) and in western Taveuni, Fiji.
Diet
Omnivorous ground forager taking invertebrates (earthworms, millipedes, snails, spiders, scorpions, insects), skinks, frogs, small birds, mice, carrion, and some plant matter (grain, tubers, figs, walnuts); notably able to safely eat toxic cane toads by flipping them over and eating only the underparts
Size
0.4 m
Wingspan
0.75 m
Lifespan
25 years

More Clever Corvids

The next 12 of the 28 in the collection, after this one.