| Magpie-lark | |
|---|---|
_male_Adelaide.jpg) | |
| maleG. c. cyanoleuca, Adelaide | |
_female_Darwin.jpg) | |
| femaleG. c. neglecta, Darwin | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Monarchidae |
| Genus: | Grallina |
| Species: | G. cyanoleuca |
| Binomial name | |
| Grallina cyanoleuca (Latham, 1801) | |
 | |
| Distribution shown in green | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Themagpie-lark (Grallina cyanoleuca), also known aswee magpie,peewee,peewit,mudlark orMurray magpie, is apasserine bird native toAustralia,Timor, and southernNew Guinea. The male and female both have black and white plumage, though with different patterns.John Latham described the species in 1801. Long thought to be a member of the mudnest builder familyCorcoracidae, it has been reclassified in the familyMonarchidae (the monarch flycatchers). Twosubspecies are recognized.
The magpie-lark was originally described by the English ornithologistJohn Latham in the genusCorvus in 1801 (asCorvus cyanoleucus).[2][3] Its species name is derived from theAncient Greek wordscyanos "dark blue" andleukos "white" despite the black and white plumage. However, there can be a bluish sheen to the black back.[4] In the same publication, Latham described the same species asGracula picata.[2][5] In 1843,Hugh Edwin Strickland proposed using the second name as it was the more accurate, resulting inGrallina picata.[6] Formerly, some authorities have classified the magpie-lark as belonging to a genus of bee-eaters,Merops.
Latham gave the species the common names of blue and white crow and pied grackle, based on the scientific names.[3][5]John Gould likewise called it the pied grallina in 1848, though he noted that it was called magpie-lark by the early settlers.[7] Gould noted similarities to the British pied wag-tail, and its flight to that of the European common pewit.[8] Alternate names for the magpie-lark include the mudlark (more common in southeastern Australia[9]) or pugwall (pug "clay"), from its nest, and peewee (more common in northeastern Australia[9]), peewit, from its call.[4] Unlike many species in southwestern Australia, the magpie-lark was given names by the local indigenous people that wereonomatopoeic (sounding like the calls they make). Names recorded includebyoolkolyedi (Perth and lowlands),dilabot (mountains and interior), andkoolyibarak.[10] Indigenous people in the Sydney region called itbirrarik.[11]
Additional common names used regionally include Murray magpie inSouth Australia.[4]
In 1977, theRAOU settled on Australian magpie-lark as the official name, noting that the names magpie lark and, less commonly, mudlark were used in guidebooks at the time.[12]
Two subspecies are recognised:[13]
Long thought to be a member of the mudnest builder familyCorcoracidae, the magpie-lark and the closely relatedtorrent lark (Grallina brujini) have been reclassified in the familyMonarchidae (the monarch flycatchers). The two make up a lineage that split off early from other monarchs and has no close relatives within the family.[14]
The magpie-lark is a small to medium size bird, reaching 25 to 30 cm (9.8 to 11.8 in) long when fully grown, or about the same size as a Europeancommon blackbird, and boldly pied in black and white; the weight range is 63.9 to 118 g (2.25 to 4.16 oz) for males, and 70 to 94.5 g (2.47 to 3.33 oz) for females.[15] The sexes are similar from a distance but easy to tell apart: the female has a white throat, the male a black throat and a white "eyebrow". Juveniles and immatures of either sex have the white throat of the female and the black eyestripe of the male, and a white belly.[15]
The magpie-lark is a common and very widespread bird both in urban and rural areas, occupying all parts of Australia except forTasmania and some of the inland desert in the far north-west ofWestern Australia, and appears to have adapted well to the presence of humans. It is also found in southernNew Guinea and on the island ofTimor. In 1924 it was introduced ontoLord Howe Island which lies 600 km (370 mi) to the east of Australia in theTasman Sea. It is now widespread on the island.[15] The magpie-lark is a familiar sight around Australia; sitting on telephone wires either alone or in pairs, or patrolling patches of bare ground, especially foreshores or swamps. It has been recorded as a vagrant toNew Zealand once.[16]
A primarily carnivorous species that eats all sorts of small creatures, the magpie-lark can adapt to an enormous range of different habitats, requiring only some soft, bare ground for foraging, a supply of mud for making a nest, and a tree to make it in. It has benefited greatly from agriculture: both the clearing of dense forest in fertile zones and the provision ofartesian water in arid areas—although a disaster for other species—have been a boon for bare-ground and short-grass feeders likemagpies and magpie-larks.
Group gatherings of magpie-larks have been observed, with loose "flocks" comprising dozens of individuals being observed perched on vantage points. They sit near houses and on fences to mark their territory and look for mates. This behaviour can be frustrating to residents in suburban areas because of their excessive high pitch shrieks. Such behaviour is common, particularly in rural and suburban environments. This behaviour may be pairing or breeding related or simply indicate a bountiful feeding area.
The magpie-lark is aggressivelyterritorial, and will fearlessly defend its territory against larger species such asmagpies,ravens,kookaburras, and even thewedge-tailed eagle.[citation needed]They are also known to attack people to defend their nesting area.[a][21] Although their attacks on people are not as aggressive as those ofmasked lapwings and magpies, they can still result in surprise or minor injury to the recipient.
They are also known to attack mirrors, windows and other reflective surfaces in which they mistake their reflection for an intruder into their territory.[22]
Birds generally pair for life (though divorce is not unknown) and defend a territory together. Thenest is round, about 150 mm in diameter with vertical sides and is usually placed on a flat branch somewhere near water or on a horizontal beam of a telephone pole. It is made of grass and plant material thickly plastered together with mud, and generously lined with grass, feathers and fur. Breeding is opportunistic, usually from August to February in the fertile south, anytime after rain in drier areas, and multiple broods are common when conditions allow. Both parents incubate a clutch of between three and five eggs. Incubation of eggs takes up to eighteen days, and the young birds fledge about three weeks after hatching. It is quite common for only some of the chicks to survive because sometimes the nest is not big enough for all of the baby birds, therefore one baby will sometimes push another out of the nest and it is most likely that the chick will not survive the fall.
Magpie-larks are one of the 200-odd species of bird around the world that are known to sing in duet; each partner producing about one note a second, but a half-second apart, so that humans find it difficult to tell that there are actually two birds singing, not one.
Traditionally, it has been thought that the function of duet singing (not just in magpie-larks but birds more generally and indeed inmammals,insects andfrogs) was to defend a territory or to maintain the pair-bond. More recently it has been proposed that it serves to guard against infidelity—that the male sings to attract a mate, and the female joins in to let her rivals know that this particular male is already taken.
Duet singing remains fairly poorly understood as a great deal of the existing research on birdsong has been carried out in the northern Hemisphere, where a fairly small number of female birds sing.
In the case of the magpie-lark, the duet singing is now known to be cooperative: pairs sing together to defend their territory. Magpie-larks sing more vigorously in response to duet calls from other birds than they do to the call of a single rival, and more vigorously still if the callers are strangers rather than established and familiar birds from a neighbouring territory. A pair of neighbours calling from the "wrong" place, however, (as when calls are recorded and played back by an experimenter) bring forth a powerful reaction: clearly, they know exactly who their neighbours are.[23] Magpie-larks also engage in pseudo-duets when nesting. In this, one individual mimicks the contribution of a missing partner, sustaining the impression to other birds that two are present.[24]
_female_in_flight_Blanchetown.jpg)
.. . settlers, whose verandahs and housetops it constantly visits, running along the latter like thepied wagtail of our own island. In fact, the two birds, except in size, are very similar. The flight of the grallina, is very peculiar, and unlike that of any other Australian bird. It much resembles that of the common pewit of Europe[possibly refers toNorthern lapwing?], and is performed with the same heavy, flapping motion of the wings. Still, the flight of the two birds differ materially during their passage through the air, the grallina passing noiselessly, and generally in a straight line, while the pewit makes sudden turns and dips …
