Newspapers from the time described the new symbol as a "piping shrike, which is commonly known as the Australian magpie … with wings extended in front of the rising sun of the Commonwealth".

These are some of the ominous warnings issued in Australia each spring, as magpies and humans begin ... The whir of flapping wings; the glint of a sharp beak in the sun; a flash of their reddish ...

Most Australians are no doubt attuned to the dreaded sound of flapping wings, a harbinger of ... Sydney so far this season. Picture: Magpie Alert Bird Life Australia national public affairs ...

which means the return of vicious swooping attacks from the Australian magpie. The melodious songbirds, which are much-loved the rest of the year, are loathed around nesting season, when they go ...

IT HAS long been said that when America sneezes, Australia catches a cold. In the case of Mason Cox, it seems that when the big American sneezes, Collingwood catches a superbug. And we have Nathan ...