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Australian Wildlife

  Australian Magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen)





Australian Magpie | Gymnorhina tibicen photo
Female Australian Magpie feeding young

Image by ozwildlife - Some rights reserved.

Australian Magpie | Gymnorhina tibicen photo
This Magpie is a regular visitor to parks and gardens. They are attracted by meat scraps.

Image by ozwildlife - Some rights reserved.

Australian Magpie | Gymnorhina tibicen photo
Magpie Warning sign in Brisbane park. Some males can be quite aggressive during breeding season when they swoop down on the head of anyone passing their nesting area. They can draw blood if they make contact, but they usually pull up at last moment.

Image by ozwildlife - Some rights reserved.







AUSTRALIAN MAGPIE FACTS

Description
The Australian Magpie is a common black and white bird. The neck, upper tail and shoulder are white in males, pale grey in females. In northern parts of Australia the back is black. In southern areas an Tasmania the back is white. The eye is brown.

Size
40cm

Habitat
anywhere there are trees and open areas. Common in urban parks and gardens.

Food
insects, larvae, scraps and handouts from people

Breeding
nest is a platform of sticks and twigs lined with grass and hair. The nest is built high in a tree.

Range
across much of Australia

distribution map showing range of Gymnorhina tibicen in Australia

Credits:
Map is from Atlas of Living Australia website at https://biocache.ala.org.au licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.



Classification
Class:Aves
Order:Passeriformes
Family:Artamidae
Genus:Gymnorhina
Species:tibicen
Common Name:Australian Magpie