Australian magpie fact sheet – wilbung

What are Australian magpies?

Australian magpies are a medium sized black and white bird native to both Australia and New Guinea. All magpies have a black head, belly, and tail, featuring patches of white. Magpies look slightly different in different parts of Australia, but they all have a brownish-red coloured eye. This is an easy way to tell them apart from currawongs, which have yellow eyes and Australian ravens, which have white eyes.

The scientific name for the Australian magpie is Gymnorhina tibicen.

Djarrawunang, wilbung, and  marriyang  are all names for the Australian magpie used by the Darug people of the Sydney basin.

An Australian magpie

Magpies have reddish brown eyes.

What sound do magpies make?

Magpies have one of the most beautiful songs of all Australian birds. It is hard to describe in writing, but they have a warbling, questioning song that soars and dips like a melodic conversation. Often a big group of magpies will all sing at the same time to mark their territory. Baby magpies have a nagging squawk which continues until one of their parents feeds them

Baby magpies have a nagging squawk when they're hungry for food.

What do magpies eat?

Magpies are omnivores, meaning they eat animals and plants. They usually feed by walking along the ground and picking food out of the soil. They eat a variety of invertebrates and larvae but will also eat mice and small lizards and snakes.

A magpie eating an insect

Should people feed magpies?

Humans should not feed magpies. Human food can make magpies sick and can change their natural hunting behaviour to become reliant on humans.

What adaptations do magpies have?

Australian magpies have strong, sharp beaks for digging in the soil to feed. They also have long legs for walking around on the ground looking for food.

As they walk along the grass Australian magpies are sometimes seen with their head tilted to the side. Magpies have excellent hearing and can hear larvae under the ground munching on the roots of the grass.

When they have chicks in their nest, magpies sometimes swoop potential threats to protect their chicks.

Magpies have strong sharp beaks.

How do magpies reproduce and what is their life cycle?

Magpies usually mate for life. They build a nest high in a tree, usually a gum tree. Magpies lay 4-6 eggs which take about 20 days to hatch. Magpies hatch pink, naked and blind with large feet, a short broad beak and a bright red throat.

The chicks take over a to fledge and don’t leave the nest for about the first 6 weeks. The chicks are mostly fed by their mother, although the father and other 'helper' magpies may help to feed and raise the young.

Magpie chicks stay with their parents for 3-4 months until they are independent enough to live by themselves. Juvenile magpies are usually able feed themselves by 6 months old.

If the juvenile magpies stay in the nest for too long, the parents will kick them out of the nest to start a new family.

Magpies live for around 25 years, although some have been known to live up to 30 years.

A mother feeding a baby magpie.

What are magpie nests like?

Magpies make messy nests out of sticks lined with soft feathers, grass or even hair. They are usually very high up in trees. Magpies sometimes collect small shiny objects and place them in their nests.

Magpies make messy nests high up in trees.

Why do magpies swoop and what can be done about it?

Australian magpies only swoop to defend their eggs or chicks whilst in their nest, usually during spring for about 4 weeks. Only some magpies swoop and even fewer actually make contact. If a magpie thinks a human is a threat to its chicks, it can swoop down close as a warning and sometimes even hit a person's head with its sharp beak. People can protect themselves from being swooped on by avoiding the area under the nest for a few weeks or by wearing a hat or carrying an umbrella. It is illegal to injure a magpie, its eggs, nest or chicks.

A magpie in flight

Have you read Waddle Giggle Gargle by Pamela Allen?

Waddle Giggle Gargle by Pamela Allen. Published by Picture Puffin, 1996.

Related fact sheets

More bird fact sheets

• Bird fact sheets – overview
• Pied currawong fact sheet (comparison: similar colours, different eye colour)
• Australian raven fact sheet (comparison species)
• Rainbow lorikeet fact sheet (another common suburban bird)

Habitats and food sources

• Tree habitats fact sheet
• Shrub habitats fact sheet
• Leaf litter habitats fact sheet
• Eucalypt forest fact sheet
• Field of Mars Reserve fact sheet

Animals linked through food webs

• Invertebrate fact sheet – overview (food source)