Gymnorhina tibicen

Australian Magpie at Queanbeyan West, NSW

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Identification history

Gymnorhina tibicen	22 Jun 2020	natureguy
Gymnorhina tibicen	21 Jun 2020	MatthewFrawley
Unidentified	21 Jun 2020	Speedsta

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6 comments

natureguy wrote:

22 Jun 2020

A White-backed form.

Speedsta wrote:

22 Jun 2020

That's what I found striking, there was something different about it and I couldnt pick it.
Thanks for spotting the obvious, now I feel better :)

alexwatt wrote:

22 Jun 2020

Haven't seen that before! Is this a random mutation or a recognised variety? Or did this one just happen to perch directly under all the other magpies?

Illilanga wrote:

22 Jun 2020

This is a quite common variation. Most of the magpies in my area (south of Canberra) are white backs. There are various zones splitting the forms east/west and north/south throughout the country. Quite a bit of research has also happened around this topic. There is even a recent PhD! https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au/bitstream/handle/10072/365743/Dobson_2017_01Thesis.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

natureguy wrote:

22 Jun 2020

There are 3 main plumages of Magpies. The White-backed subspecies of Magpie is most common in southern Australia, with the regular Black-backed subspecies occurring throughout the rest of Australia and the Western subspecies occurring in Southwest Western Australia. The White-backed Magpie is at its northernmost occurrence in the ACT area so it is generally more common to see Black-backed Magpies locally.

natureguy wrote:

22 Jun 2020

These other CNM sightings are of White-backed Magpies: https://canberra.naturemapr.org/Sightings/4201776 https://canberra.naturemapr.org/Sightings/3410321 https://canberra.naturemapr.org/Sightings/3392383 https://canberra.naturemapr.org/Sightings/3360763

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