Oct 2, 2026 · 1 hr 35 min · 9 segments
A weekly podcast with relaxed discussion of Australian topics, history, a featured town and a couple of trivia questions with your hosts DK and Ardeet. Contact us at AustraliaTalks@proton.me…
And of course... coming into spring what do we have plenty of magpies yep we love magpies so when they're not swooping us uh why do magpies sing to people some people not everyone and of course how do you know if one actually likes you Magpies have a reputation as one of Australia's most feared backyard visitors, but thanks to, well, that is pretty much exclusively thanks to their swooping antics during the breeding season.
But not every encounter is a warning to back away.
It turns out that these clever little birds can recognise individual human faces and singing is often a sign of trust, not aggression.
Here's what your local magpie is basically trying to tell you, if you're willing to listen.
The magpies rank among the most vocally advanced songbirds in the world, producing an incredible range of complex and varied sounds.
Professor Iglesia Kaplan, a professor of animal behavior at the University of New England, describes the different magpie sounds in four categories.
separate categories she says caroling described as loud noisy and powerful this is Probably the time when you hear them and are kind of like, whoa, what's going on? They warble, which in contrast is much, much softer.
They, of course, have their alarm calls, and these are harsh squawks, and these are generally to ward off predators.
And then finally, they have mimicry.
And sometimes magpies will imitate the calls of other birds or even human-made sounds, such as alarms or ringtones, which I've definitely heard a magpie make an alarm-type sound and gone, what the hell? Like, what are you doing there, dude? Yeah.
But as Dr. Kaplan notes that vocalizations can inform about food, but can also express anxiety, alarm, rivalry, attention, defense, or flying away as in a follow me and similar other short instructions.
They have quite a large vocabulary.
Additionally, magpies will send out melodious calls as well, warning other birds to defend their space and also letting them know that this territory is taken.
And if you hear magpies caroling together, this signals a victory for the birds who have most likely just successfully defended their territory from other birds or perhaps other humans.
Yeah, right.
Yeah, so if you ever see a family group all suddenly start to sing and you're sort of like, what's going on? Maybe you're what they defended against or perhaps it was something else
as
well.
But what about magpies that sing to a human? What's my local magpie trying to tell me? Stop leaving me hanging, DK.
Get on with it.
And this behavior isn't random, of course.
And of course... coming into spring what do we have plenty of magpies yep we love magpies so when they're not swooping us uh why do magpies sing to people some people not everyone and of course how do you know if one actually likes you Magpies have a reputation as one of Australia's most feared backyard visitors, but thanks to, well, that is pretty much exclusively thanks to their swooping antics during the breeding season.
But not every encounter is a warning to back away.
It turns out that these clever little birds can recognise individual human faces and singing is often a sign of trust, not aggression.
Here's what your local magpie is basically trying to tell you, if you're willing to listen.
The magpies rank among the most vocally advanced songbirds in the world, producing an incredible range of complex and varied sounds.
Professor Iglesia Kaplan, a professor of animal behavior at the University of New England, describes the different magpie sounds in four categories.
separate categories she says caroling described as loud noisy and powerful this is Probably the time when you hear them and are kind of like, whoa, what's going on? They warble, which in contrast is much, much softer.
They, of course, have their alarm calls, and these are harsh squawks, and these are generally to ward off predators.
And then finally, they have mimicry.
And sometimes magpies will imitate the calls of other birds or even human-made sounds, such as alarms or ringtones, which I've definitely heard a magpie make an alarm-type sound and gone, what the hell? Like, what are you doing there, dude? Yeah.
But as Dr. Kaplan notes that vocalizations can inform about food, but can also express anxiety, alarm, rivalry, attention, defense, or flying away as in a follow me and similar other short instructions.
They have quite a large vocabulary.
Additionally, magpies will send out melodious calls as well, warning other birds to defend their space and also letting them know that this territory is taken.
And if you hear magpies caroling together, this signals a victory for the birds who have most likely just successfully defended their territory from other birds or perhaps other humans.
Yeah, right.
Yeah, so if you ever see a family group all suddenly start to sing and you're sort of like, what's going on? Maybe you're what they defended against or perhaps it was something else
as
well.
But what about magpies that sing to a human? What's my local magpie trying to tell me? Stop leaving me hanging, DK.
Get on with it.
And this behavior isn't random, of course.
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