Magpie-lark: Difference between revisions

| name = Magpie-lark

| status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021">{{Citecite iucn | author = BirdLife International |date=2018 |title = ''Grallina cyanoleuca'' | volume = 20162018 | page = e.T22707425A94123194T22707425A131945945 | date = 2016 | doi = 10.2305/IUCN.UK.20162018-32.RLTS.T22707425A94123194T22707425A131945945.en |access-date=19 November 2021}}</ref>

| image =Magpie-lark (Grallina cyanoleuca Femalecyanoleuca) male Adelaide.jpg

| image_caption = Femalemale ''G. c. cyanoleuca'', Adelaide

| image2 = MaleMagpie-lark magpie(Grallina larkcyanoleuca inneglecta) suburbanfemale gardenDarwin.jpg

| image2_caption = Malefemale ''G. c. neglecta'', Darwin

| synonyms = * ''Corvus cyanoleucus'' <small>Latham</small>{{Specieslist

* '' |Gracula picata'' <small>|Latham</small>

* '' |Grallina melanoleuca'' <small>|Vieillot</small>

* '' |Merops picatus'' <small>|Shaw</small>

* '' |Tanypus australis'' <small>|Oppel</small>

The '''magpie-lark''' ('''''Grallina cyanoleuca'''''), also known as the '''wee magpie''', '''peewee''', '''peewit''', '''mudlark''' or '''mudlarkMurray 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 (ornithologist)|John Latham]] described the species in 1801. Long thought to be a member of the mudnest builder family [[Corcoracidae]], it has been reclassified in the family [[Monarchidae]] (the monarch flycatchers). Two [[subspecies]] are recognized.

The magpie-lark was originally described by the English ornithologist [[John Latham (ornithologist)|John Latham]] in the genus ''[[Corvus]]'' in 1801 (as ''Corvus cyanoleucus'').<ref name=mayr>{{cite book | last=Mayr | first=E. | chapter=Family Granillidae, Australian mud nest builders | editor1-last=Mayr | editor1-first=E. | editor2-last=Greenway | editor2-first=J.C. Jr. | year=1962 | title=Check-list of birds of the world, Volume XV | volume=15 | publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=159 | chapter-url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14485532 }}</ref><ref name=latham25>{{cite book | last=Latham | first=John | year=1801 | title=Supplementum indicis ornithologici sive systematis ornithologiae | place=London | publisher=G. Leigh and S. Sotheby | language=la | page=25 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/33261399 }}</ref> Its species name is derived from the [[Ancient Greek]] words ''cyanos'' "dark blue" and ''leukos'' "white" despite the black and white plumage. However, there can be a bluish sheen to the black back.<ref name=fraser13>{{cite book|last1=Gray|first1=Jeannie|last2=Fraser|first2=Ian|title=Australian Bird Names: A Complete Guide|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W1TCqHVWQp0C&pg=PT209|year=2013|publisher=Csiro Publishing|location=Collingwood, Victoria | isbn=978-0-643-10471-6|page=249}}</ref> In the same publication, Latham described the same species as ''Gracula picata''.<ref name=mayr/><ref name=latham29>{{cite book | last=Latham | first=John | year=1801 | title=Supplementum indicis ornithologici sive systematis ornithologiae | place=London | publisher=G. Leigh and S. Sotheby | language=la | page=29 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/33261403 }}</ref> In 1843, [[Hugh Edwin Strickland]] proposed using the second name as it was the more accurate, resulting in ''Grallina picata''.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Strickland | first=Hugh Edwin | year=1843 | title=Remarks on a collection of Australian drawings of birds, the property of the Earl of Derby | pages=333–38 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/2326503 | journal=Annals and Magazine of Natural History | volume=11| doi=10.1080/03745484309445312 }}</ref> Formerly, some authorities have classified the magpie-lark as belonging to a genus of bee-eaters, ''[[Merops (genus)|Merops]]''.

Latham gave the species the common names of blue and white crow and pied grackle, based on the scientific names.<ref name=latham25/><ref name=latham29/> [[John Gould]] likewise called it the pied grallina in 1848, though he noted that it was called magpie-lark by the early settlers.<ref>{{cite book | last=Gould | first=John | author-link=John Gould | year=1848 | title=The birds of Australia | volume=Volume 2 | place=London | publisher=Self-published | at=Plate 54 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48200705 }}</ref> Gould noted similarities to the British pied wag-tail, and its flight to that of the European common pewit.<ref name="LondonNews1863">{{cite news |title=The magpie-larks of Australia at the Zoological Society's gardens, Regent's Park |url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Grallina_picata_-_1863_-_Print_-_Iconographia_Zoologica_-_Special_Collections_University_of_Amsterdam_-_UBA01_IZ16300129.tif |work=The Illustrated London News |date=1863 |page=225 |quote= .. . settlers, whose verandahs and housetops it constantly visits, running along the latter like the [[Pied Wagtail|pied 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 to [[Northern 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 … }}</ref> Alternate names for the magpie-lark include the mudlark (more common in southeastern Australia<ref name=bryant11>{{cite thesis | url=https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/handle/1885/8744 | author=Bryant, Pauline |title=Regional variation in the lexicon of Australian English |year=2011}}</ref>) or pugwall (pug "clay"), from its nest, and peewee (more common in northeastern Australia<ref name=bryant11/>), peewit, from its call.<ref name=fraser13/> Unlike many species in southwestern Australia, the magpie-lark was given names by the local indigenous people that were [[onomatopoeic]] (sounding like the calls they make). Names recorded include ''byoolkolyedi'' (Perth and lowlands), ''dilabot'' (mountains and interior), and ''koolyibarak''.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Abbott | first=Ian | title=Aboriginal names of bird species in south-west Western Australia, with suggestions for their adoption into common usage |year= 2009 |journal= Conservation Science Western Australia Journal |volume= 7 |issue=2 |pages=213–78 [265–66] |url=http://www.dpaw.wa.gov.au/images/documents/about/science/cswa/articles/14.pdf}}</ref> Indigenous people in the Sydney region called it ''birrarik'' or ''birrerik''.<ref>{{cite book|author=Troy, Jakelin|year=1993|title=The Sydney Language|publisher=Self-published| location=Canberra|isbn=0-646-11015-2| url=http://www.williamdawes.org/docs/troy_sydney_language_publication.pdf}} p. 52 of 93. Troy gives ''birrarik'' as the reference form in his regularised orthography, based on "birrerik" of [[R. H. Mathews]] (1903).</ref>

The magpie-lark (also known as wee magpie) is of small to medium size, reaching {{convert|25|to|30|cm|in|abbr=on}} long when fully grown, or about the same size as a European [[common blackbird]], and boldly pied in black and white; the weight range is {{convert|63.9|to|118|g|oz|abbr=on}} for males, and {{convert|70|to|94.5|g|oz|abbr=on}} for females.<ref name=hbwalive>{{cite book| last1=Tingay | first1=A. |last2=Tingay | first2=S. | year=20092020 | chapter=Magpie-lark (''Grallina cyanoleuca'') | editor1-last=del Hoyo | editor1-first=J. | editor2-last=Elliott | editor2-first=A. | editor3-last=Sargatal | editor3-first=J. | editor4-last=Christie | editor4-first=D.A. | editor5-last=de Juana | editor5-first=E. | title=Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive | publisher=Lynx Edicions | doi=10.2173/bow.maglar1.01 | s2cid=216498793 | chapter-url=http://www.hbw.com/node/60599 | access-date=9 December 2015}}{{subscription required}}</ref> 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.<ref name=hbwalive/>

The magpie-lark is a common and very widespread bird both in urban and rural areas, occupying all parts of Australia except for [[Tasmania]] and some of the inland desert in the far north-west of [[Western Australia]], and appears to have adapted well to the presence of humans. It is also found in southern [[New Guinea]] and on the island of [[Timor]]. In 1924 it was introduced onto [[Lord Howe Island]] which lies {{convert|600|km|mi|abbr=on}} to the east of Australia in the [[Tasman Sea]]. It is now widespread on the island.<ref name=hbwalive/> The magpie-lark is a familiar sight around Australia; sitting on telephone wires either singlyalone or in pairs, or patrolling patches of bare ground, especially foreshores or swamps. It has been recorded as a vagrant to [[New Zealand]] once.<ref name="Misk">{{cite journal |last1=Miskelly |first1=C |last2=Crossland |first2=A |last3=Sagar |first3=P |last4=Saville |first4=I |last5=Tennyson |first5=A |last6=Bell |first6=E |title=Vagrant and extra-limital records accepted by the Birds New Zealand Records Appraisal Committee 2015-2016 |journal=Notornis |date=2017 |volume=64 |page=57-67 |url=https://www.birdsnz.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Miskelly_et_al_64_2__57_67.pdf}}</ref>

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 a 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.

There has been a number of reports in news media, often involving eye damage.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.trevorsbirding.com/larking-around/|title=Larking around - Trevor's Birding|date=19 July 2006 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Joyce|first1=Nikkii|title=Grumpy peewee attacks little girl|url=http://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/news/grumpy-peewee-attacks-little-girl-elara-swaine/551785/|access-date=30 August 2015|work=Sunshine Coast Daily|publisher=APN|date=8 June 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Mannix|first1=Liam|title=Swooping bird attacks woman at Richmond train station|url=http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/swooping-bird-attacks-woman-at-richmond-train-station-20140708-zt03f.html|access-date=30 August 2015|work=The Age|publisher=Fairfax Media|date=8 July 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Billias|first1=Maria |title=Swooping bird attacks glamour girls in Mitchell St frenzy |url=http://www.ntnews.com.au/news/northern-territory/swooping-bird-attacks-glamour-girls-in-mitchell-st-frenzy/story-fnk0b1zt-1227385165938 |date=5 June 2015 |access-date=30 August 2015 |work=NT News |publisher=News Corp}}</ref>

Although their attacks on people are not as aggressive as those of [[masked lapwing]]s and magpies, they can still result in surprise or minor injury to the recipient.

Traditionally, it has been thought that the function of duet singing (not just in magpie-larks but birds more generally and indeed in [[mammal]]s, [[insect]]s and [[frog]]s) 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 [citation required - projecting a human psychological dynamic, or anthropomorphism]. 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.<ref>[http://www.smh.com.au/news/science/no-larking-matter-a-duets-dire-precision/2007/06/04/1180809433923.html "No larking matter: a duet's dire precision"], Richard Macey, June 5, 2007, The Sydney Morning Herald</ref> 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.<ref name="Ręk Magrath 2017 p. 20171774">{{cite journal |last=Ręk |first=Paweł |last2=Magrath |first2=Robert D. |date=2017 |title=Deceptive vocal duets and multimodal display in a songbird |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |volume=284 |issue=1864 |page=20171774 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2017.1774 |issn=0962-8452 |pmc=5647311 |pmid=28978738}}</ref>

File:Magpie-larkLark RWDCropped.JPG|attacking a car mirror.jpg

File:Australian Magpie-larkLark IBchicks.jpg|Two chicks in a mud nest

[[Category:Birds of Victoria (Australiastate)]]