Bird Size
With a body as big as a netball (~40cm), the Australian Magpie is a giant sized butcherbird. These birds come from the same mob/family. These large birds are more similar genetically to Butcherbirds than to the similar looking Magpie-larks.
Bird Features, Colours, Behaviours
This bird is famous for its beautiful, soft yodelling song. Its colours are black and white but the amount and position of black and white is different on Maggies depending on which nation you find them in. Young Maggies can have grey to brown colours having not yet got their adult full-coloured feathers. Adult Maggies have a straight whitish beak with a slight hook at their black tip.
Bird Social Behaviour
These birds can be found by themselves, in pairs or in mobs of up to 20 birds.
Language Area / Centre: Yugambeh
Bird name: Kulamburum, Goolumbrun
Story: Kulumburum and Goolumbrun. There are different spelling options here and this spelling is used out of respect for Uncle Magpie who carries this as his totem. This is how he spells it. Goolumbrun also features in the bird corroboree story which tells of how birds got their colours.
Knowledge from: Germaine Paulson
Knowledge origin: Mununjali