Gymnorhina tibicen

Australian Magpie at Queanbeyan West, NSW

Gymnorhina tibicen at Queanbeyan West, NSW - 14 Jun 2020
Gymnorhina tibicen at Queanbeyan West, NSW - 14 Jun 2020
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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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Location information

Sighting information

Species information

  • Gymnorhina tibicen Scientific name
  • Australian Magpie Common name
  • Not Sensitive
  • Local native
  • Non-invasive or negligible
  • Up to 1031.1m Recorded at altitude
  • 573 images trained Machine learning
  • External link More information
  • Synonyms

    Cracticus tibicen Gymnorhina tibicen
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