CreatureData

Magpie-lark

Grallina cyanoleuca (Latham, 1801)

LCLeast Concernsongbirds

The magpie-lark (Grallina cyanoleuca) is a species in the family Monarchidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh 47.5 g to 88 g. Source checklists list it for 1 country: Australia. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Magpie-lark (Grallina cyanoleuca)
Photo: JJ Harrison ( https://www.jjharrison.com.au/ ) · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the magpie-lark

Weight
47.5 g – 88 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet
Longest recorded lifespan
10 years
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
grasslandsrc for Habitat
Egg incubation
5 dayssrc for Egg incubation
Young per litter or clutch
3.5 – 4src for Young per litter or clutch
Age at maturity
11.9 monthssrc for Age at maturity
Litters or clutches a year
2src for Litters or clutches a year
Lifestyle
Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
1 countrysrc for Countries on record

Photos of the magpie-lark

Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.

1 more photo exists under a licence we cannot display: view at source.

Where does the magpie-lark live?

Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.

The magpie-lark is listed for 1 country.

Australia
  • Listed
  • Not listed
small islands are not drawn at this scale

The same countries as a list

  1. Australia

Listed by: ITIS (scope: global), through the Catalogue of Life.

What is the magpie-lark?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

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.

From the Wikipedia article “Magpie-lark” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Magpie-lark&oldid=1384003053), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the magpie-lark endangered?

The magpie-lark is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.

How is the magpie-lark classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderPasseriformes
  5. familyMonarchidae
  6. genusGrallina
  7. SpeciesGrallina cyanoleuca (Latham, 1801)

Synonyms Corvus cyanoleucus, Corvus splendidus, Gracula picata, Grallina melanoleuca

Other names and names in other languages (45)
  • Magpie larkEnglish
  • MagpielarkEnglish
  • MagpielarkEnglish
  • MudlarkEnglish
  • Murray magpieEnglish
  • PeeweeEnglish
  • popeláček černobílýCzech
  • Apostol BrithWelsh
  • SkadelærkeDanish
  • Stor SkadelærkeDanish
  • StelzenmonarchGerman
  • DrosselstelzeGerman
  • piga monarkoEsperanto
  • Grallina australianaSpanish
  • piibikEstonian
  • چکاوک پیسهPersian
  • mutaharakkaFinnish
  • Gralline pieFrench
  • pozemni monarhCroatian
  • szarkapacsirtaHungarian
  • Branjangan-lumpur australiaIndonesian
  • Grallina gazzaItalian
  • ツチスドリJapanese
  • jijigurrinkgs
  • australinė gralinaLithuanian
  • Australische SlijkeksterDutch
  • skjærelerkeNorwegian
  • gralina srokataPolish
  • gralina-pegaPortuguese
  • cotovia-bicolorPortuguese
  • gralhina-australianaPortuguese
  • Pega cotoviaPortuguese
  • Pega-cotoviaPortuguese
  • Шёлковая миаграRussian
  • Австралийская граллинаRussian
  • Сорочья граллинаRussian
  • strakavec škovránčíSlovak
  • Svrakasta ševaSerbian
  • skatlärkaSwedish
  • Çayır GralinasıTurkish
  • скунда австралійськаUkrainian
  • birrarikxdk
  • 鵲鷚Chinese
  • 鵲鷚（鷯）Chinese
  • 鹊鹩Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the magpie-lark

Other species in the same genus Grallina.

LC, Least Concern

Torrent-lark

Grallina bruijnii

MonarchidaeNo free photo yet

CompareMagpie-lark vs Torrent-lark

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the magpie-lark?

An adult magpie-lark weighs 47.5 g – 88 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Where does the magpie-lark live?

Catalogue of Life checklists list the magpie-lark for 1 country: Australia. Checklist coverage is uneven, so the true range may be wider.

Is the magpie-lark endangered?

The magpie-lark is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

What kind of animal is the magpie-lark?

The magpie-lark (Grallina cyanoleuca) belongs to the family Monarchidae in the order Passeriformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Magpie-lark (Grallina cyanoleuca). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/magpie-lark

MLA

“Magpie-lark (Grallina cyanoleuca).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/magpie-lark.

BibTeX
@misc{magpie_lark_2026,
  title = {Magpie-lark (Grallina cyanoleuca)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/magpie-lark},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}