With its long legs, the Australian magpie walks rather than waddles or hops and spends much time on the ground.ĭescribed as one of Australia's most accomplished songbirds, the Australian magpie has an array of complex vocalisations. The male has pure white feathers on the back of the head and the female has white blending to grey feathers on the back of the head. The male and female are similar in appearance, but can be distinguished by differences in back markings. The adult Australian magpie is a fairly robust bird ranging from 37 to 43 cm (14.5 to 17 in) in length, with black and white plumage, gold brown eyes and a solid wedge-shaped bluish-white and black bill.

It is not closely related to the European magpie, which is a corvid. 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). Although once considered to be three separate species, it is now considered to be one, with nine recognised subspecies. The Australian magpie ( Gymnorhina tibicen) is a black and white passerine bird native to Australia, New Zealand and southern New Guinea.

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