#1365 · 🐦 birds
Magpie-lark
🇳🇱 Australische Slijkekster ·Grallina cyanoleuca
10 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences
- 1. © Geoff Whalan · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
- 2. © Thomas Jaeger · CC BY 4.0
- 3. © Charles Lam · CC BY-SA 4.0
- 4. © Proteros · CC BY 4.0
- 5. © Stephen Michael Barnett · CC BY 4.0
- 6. © Leo · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
- 7. © Charles Lam · CC BY-SA 4.0
- 8. © wingspanner · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 9. © Terra Occ · CC BY 4.0
- 10. © bbeddor · CC BY-NC 4.0
what is it?
The magpie-lark ( Grallina cyanoleuca ), also known as the peewee , peewit or mudlark , 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.
base stats
Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).
fun facts
- No confirmed wild sightings in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: you'd have to travel for this one.
- 31,181 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
- Weighs only about 48 g.
- Scientifically named by John Latham in 1802 (224 years ago).
fact sheet
- English
- Magpie-lark
- Nederlands
- Australische Slijkekster
- scientific name
- Grallina cyanoleuca
- class
- Aves
- order
- Passeriformes
- family
- Monarchidae
- IUCN Red List
- LC · least concern
- sightings in NL
- 0
- sightings worldwide
- 31,181
- GBIF records in NL
- 0
- weight
- 47.5 g
- length
- —
- lifespan
- —
- named
- 1802 by John Latham
IUCN in Dutch: niet bedreigd. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: iNaturalist taxon 8583, Wikidata Q1190650, GBIF 2486655, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.