With regard to the first sentence, I have an old book: Bird wonders of Australia, by A.H. Chisholm, first published 1934, 6th edition 1965 (which
is the one I have) with a chapter: “A study in black-and-white” about this aspect.
From: Steve Read [
Sent: Sunday, 26 January, 2020 12:22 PM
To: 'Canberrabirds'
Subject: [canberrabirds] Black-and-white birds
We all know the obvious local black-and-white birds, Magpie, Magpie-lark and Willie Wagtail. They may have had a long evolutionary history of interaction. At Stony Creek this morning, the relatively three unexpected sightings were all other
black-and-white birds. A juvenile White-belled Sea-eagle perched in a dead tree, a Pied Cormorant beating its way downstream, and a Pied Butcherbird next to the carpark.
Five separate raptor species were around, as well, and Kevin and I didn’t even see a Brown Falcon. So, overall, a good morning even if the country is very dry and the river low. Full list at
https://ebird.org/australia/checklist/S63781211.
Steve
