Another Australian species that is sometimes confused with the Pied Currawong is the Australian Magpie, Gymnorhina tibicen, although the two are quite different in plumage. The Magpie has a grey and black bill and a red-brown eye.
The pied currawong (Strepera graculina) is a black passerine bird native to eastern Australia and Lord Howe Island. One of three currawong species in the genus Strepera, it is closely related to the butcherbirds and Australian magpie of the family Artamidae. Six subspecies are recognised.
Pied Currawongs look similar to the Australian Magpie and the Pied Butcherbird, but with a few key differences. You can easily tell these similar birds apart by their eyes. Currawongs have yellow eyes, whereas Magpies have red-brown eyes and Butcherbirds have very dark brown, almost black eyes.
Currawongs are slightly larger than magpies, have yellow eyes, a black neck and throat and black beak. Magpies, on the other hand, have red/brown eyes, a white or grey patch on their back and neck and a white beak. The two birds also have distinctively different calls.
They were formerly known as crow-shrikes or bell-magpies. Despite their resemblance to crows and ravens, they are only distantly related to the corvidae, instead belonging to an Afro-Asian radiation of birds of superfamily Malaconotoidea. They are not as terrestrial as the magpie and have shorter legs.
"Pied currawongs have a lot of positive qualities as they will happily eat up carrion, rodents and insects for you," Ms Bradshaw said. And the birds have a nurturing side as well.
Description The pied currawong (Strepera graculina) is a medium-sized black passerine bird native to eastern Australia and Lord Howe Island. One of three currawong species in the genus Strepera, it is closely related to the butcherbirds...
Magpie-lark
It is also called a Peewee, Peewit, Mudlark or Little Magpie. Its name Magpie-lark is also confusing because it is neither a Magpie nor a Lark. It is more closely related to Monarchs, Fantails and Drongos.
A Brisbane study has shown that only nine per cent of magpies are aggressive towards people. Even though most magpies don't attack people, many have seen or experienced a magpie attack while walking or riding through a magpie's territory sometime between July and November.
The Magpie-lark is a common black and white bird with many different names. It is also called a Peewee, Peewit, Mudlark or Little Magpie.
There are several largely black or black and white birds in Australia, and most are very familiar in the local area. Pied Currawongs are one of these birds and are becoming increasingly common in urban areas.
The Australian magpie, Cracticus tibicen, is conspicuously "pied", with black and white plumage reminiscent of a Eurasian magpie. It is a member of the family Artamidae and not a corvid.
Even though you may be seeing the same magpie over and over, they don't all look the same. There are nine subspecies of magpies in Australia, with very different feather patterns. In southern Victoria, adults have almost uniformly white backs, whereas in the north they may be a hybrid or almost completely black.
To persuade females to come close, the male lyrebird sings the most complex song he can manage. And he does that by copying the sounds of all the other birds he hears around him – including the sounds of chainsaws and camera shutters!
A member of the Artamidae, the Australian magpie is placed in its own genus Gymnorhina and is most closely related to the black butcherbird (Melloria quoyi). It is not closely related to the European magpie, which is a corvid.
Australian Magpies are strongly territorial and defend their territories both from other magpies as well as potential predators. Unfortunately, some individual magpies perceive humans as a potential threat and accordingly, swoop down with a fast warning flight, occasionally making contact.
Although Magpies are abundant in the north-western portions of the United States, and are met with as far north as the Saskatchewan river, where, according to Dr.
Australian Magpies (Cracticus tibicen) are very widespread and live in suburbs across Australia where there are trees and adjacent open areas such as lawns, golf courses and playing fields. For most of the year, Magpies are friendly and sociable, and may even venture into your house to beg for food.
The rainbow lorikeet was anointed our most populous bird, with an estimated population of about 19 million. The birds are widespread throughout Australia, and at home in urban and bush environments. Our national bird, the emu, also fared well, with an estimated 2.1 million strolling across Australia.
Ghost magpies are birds that, through a genetic mutation, exhibit imperfect albinism. The mutation means the amount of black pigmentation in their feathers is much lower than in normal black-billed magpies, giving them a distinct white-grey colouring and, curiously, blue eyes.
The Australian white ibis is a fairly large ibis species, around 65–75 cm (26–30 in) long and has a bald black head and neck and a long black downcurved beak, measuring over 16.7 cm (6.6 in) in the male, and under in the female.
The magpie-lark (Grallina cyanoleuca), also known as wee magpie, peewee, peewit, mudlark or Murray magpie, is a passerine bird native to Australia, Timor and southern New Guinea. The male and female both have black and white plumage, though with different patterns. John Latham described the species in 1801.
Currawongs are the most crow-like of the Artamidae, being just as big and nearly as black. The Pied Currawong, Strepera graculina, is black with white flashes in wing, undertail and tail-tip, all more apparent in flight.
The Pied Currawong is a large, mostly black bird, with a bright yellow eye. Small patches of white are confined to the under tail, the tips and bases of the tail feathers and a small patch towards the tip of each wing (visible in flight).