Australian Magpie

Scientific name: Gymnorhina tibicen

Meaning of name:

Gymnorhina is from the Greek words gymnos, meaning bare, and rhis, meaning nose. Tibicen is Latin for flute-player.

Aboriginal Name:

Koorbat (caw’bart).

Distribution:

Australian Magpies are found across most of Australia.

Description:

This bird is up to 43 centimetres long with a wingspan of 85 centimetres.

Notes:

There is geographic variation in the plumage of the Australian Magpie. In the southwest of WA, the males can be identified by the clean white colouring on their backs. The young and females have dark feathers edged with white on their backs.

The furthest distance recorded by the Australian Bird and Bat Banding Scheme for this species of bird to travel is 1,278 km. The oldest bird recorded was recovered 23 years 9.4 months after being banded (information as at 23 June 2012).

The photographs for this species were not taken in the reserves of interest to the FQPB.

References:

Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds. Various contributors.

What Bird is That? Neville W Cayley. 1978

Australian Birds, their Nests and Eggs. Gordon Beruldsen. 2003

Aboriginal names of bird species in south-west Western Australia, with suggestions for their adoption into common usage. Ian Abbott. 2009. Conservation Science Western Australia Journal. Volume 7 No 2 https://library.dbca.wa.gov.au/Journals/080559/080559-07.015.pdf

Australian Bird and Bat Banding Scheme http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/science/abbbs/abbbs-search.html

Atlas of Living Australia https://bie.ala.org.au/species/https://biodiversity.org.au/afd/taxa/5291343e-fdeb-4a65-8ba5-928f5b96acf5#overview