The Australian magpie (Cracticus tibicen) is a medium-sized black and white passerine bird native to Australia and southern New Guinea. It’s virtually impossible to visit Australia and NOT see a magpie or “Maggie” as we call them. They are literally everywhere, especially in the major cities. They await you at picnic sites hoping to steal your food. They will swoop on you in breeding season if they think you are a threat to their chicks. They can be annoying if you are trying to photograph other birds and the maggies are scaring them off. But they do have a beautiful melodious warbling sound, it’s one of the first sounds I hear when I wake up in the morning though it is not loud enough to actually WAKE me up!
Don’t worry about trying to find Australian Magpies. In most places in Australia, they will find you!
LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS BIRD
ABC – Good info on why they swoop!
Magpie Alert – good map showing swooping hotspots! I can see reports in a few streets near me – mostly attacking cyclists. My husband says he was swooped once while on a walk.
State of Queensland (Department of Environment and Heritage Protection)
VIDEOS
Trust me, this is only a small bit of their song, it really is beautiful!
Amazing footage of a swoop on a cyclist from the cyclist himself!
He later appeared on the local news.
And here is a swoop from a spectator point of view, the guy’s Mom really freaks out!
This maggie clearly doesn’t like the postman, maybe he got too many bills that day?
Maybe it’s better to make friends with them!
I don’t approve of allowing cats outdoors where they can kill wild birds. Magpies are extremely clever and seem well in control of this situation but other small song birds wouldn’t have been so lucky.
And I’ll leave you with this adorable clip of a juvenile maggie singing to some rainbow lorikeets!