Grallina cyanoleuca
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~90% in a week >90%
The magpie-lark (Grallina cyanoleuca), also known as wee magpie, peewee, peewit, mudlark or Murray magpie, is a passerine bird native to Australia, Timor, and southern New Guinea. The male and female both have black and white plumage, though with different patterns. John Latham described the species in 1801. Long thought to be a member of the mudnest builder family Corcoracidae, it has been reclassified in the family Monarchidae (the monarch flycatchers). Two subspecies are recognized.
The magpie-lark was originally described by the English ornithologist John Latham in the genus Corvus in 1801 (as Corvus cyanoleucus). Its species name is derived from the Ancient Greek words cyanos "dark blue" and leukos "white" despite the black and white plumage. However, there can be a bluish sheen to the black back. In the same publication, Latham described the same species as Gracula picata. In 1843, Hugh Edwin Strickland proposed using the second name as it was the more accurate, resulting in Grallina picata. Formerly, some authorities have classified the magpie-lark as belonging to a genus of bee-eaters, Merops.
Latham gave the species the common names of blue and... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hattah-Kulkyne National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | Kakadu National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 3 | Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 4 | Nitmiluk National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 5 | Litchfield National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 6 | Flinders Ranges National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 7 | Blue Mountains National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 8 | Kosciuszko National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 9 | Noosa National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 10 | Great Otway National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 11 | Royal National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 12 | Daintree National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 13 | Booderee National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 14 | Wilsons Promontory National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 15 | Flinders Chase | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 16 | Grampians National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 17 | Ningaloo Marine Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 18 | Rottnest Island | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 19 | Springbrook National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 20 | Cape Range | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 21 | Lamington National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Australian Reptile Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | Birdworld Kuranda | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 3 | Kuranda Koala Gardens | 🇦🇺 Australia |
Likely
About 50% of wildlife watchers report a Magpie-lark sighting in Sydney on a given day, based on 9,888 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 10th most-seen of the 243 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 90%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, about 50% of wildlife watchers report a Magpie-lark in Sydney on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Magpie-lark sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
4th of 4
Of the 4 cities where we can rate Magpie-lark sightings, Sydney ranks 4th at about 50%. The best odds are in Melbourne (Australia, about 80%), Brisbane (Australia, about 60%) and Perth (Australia, about 50%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Magpie-lark is recorded against all the birds logged in Sydney (9,888 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
