A Stranger in Paradise

This post updates my story that speaks to the confusion about the identity of the Piping Shrike - the bird that appears on the South Australian State Flag and Badge. I have explained previously that the bird is the White Backed Magpie and NOT the Magpie Lark. The recent BankSA advertising campaign that features the 'Piping Shrike' has added to the confusion because it misidentifies the bird. The advertising campaign correctly refers to the Piping Shrike but the caricature they use to represent the Piping Shrike is unfortunately a Magpie Lark.


My earlier post examines the history of the Piping Shrike in South Australia. There is no doubt that the bird is the White Backed Magpie. In the interests of State identity and pride, it is time to clarify the bird's identity once and for all.

Although the name Piping Shrike might be appealing to some people, the degree of confusion about the bird's identity supports the idea that it is time to consider if continuing to use Piping Shrike is useful. I suggest that it is time to call the magnificent bird by its name of White Backed Magpie instead of Piping Shrike.


Below is the White Backed Magpie that appears on the State Flag and Badge:

Next is the Magpie Lark that DOES NOT appear on the State Flag and Badge.


  

The caricature below is also a Magpie Lark, according to the markings and beak. 

Bank SA, it seems, has changed its advertising, although it looks the same. Here's a copy of the advertising:
The Piping Shrike | Park :45s from Flavio Fonseca on Vimeo.

In this version of the advertising  the ‘Piping Shrike’ caricature is no longer ‘better than that’ [a Magpie]. However, as you can hear, he quite misleadingly says ‘don’t call me a magpie, I’m the Piping Shrike’.

Then he spreads his wings to make the connection between himself and the State flag:

BankSA advertising

South Australian State Flag

The response to Piping Shrike spreading his wings is ‘Ahhh’, demonstrating explicit recognition that he is indeed the bird on the State flag:

However, as I have pointed out in my earlier blog posts, the bird on our state flag is the White Backed Magpie. Information available from a number of South Australian sources confirm the bird’s correct identity. These websites include the State Library, the SA Parliament and the SA Government (under Insignia). 

The caricature known as the Piping Shrike has previously claimed that he is not a Magpie and is instead a Piping Shrike. Before, he said that Piping shrikes are ‘more refined’ than Magpies. The tweet included an image of the White Backed Magpie.

Source: Twitter 11 Sept 2016

BankSA supported the idea that the 'Piping Shrike' that appeared in their advertising was not a Magpie. 

From BankSA Website

BankSA also used the 'Piping Shrike' in a call for innovative ideas to promote our state. However the caricature, who at the time was 'not a Magpie', claimed he appeared on State Crests and the State Flag. See below for an excerpt from BankSA's website:

Later, ‘Piping Shrike’ changed his stance a little. But instead of acknowledging that a fundamental error of identity had been made in conceiving the Piping Shrike Campaign and in turn the BankSA advertising, he attempts to muscle in on the Stage Flag along with the White Backed Magpie. He says: 

‘These birds, Magpies, Piping Shrikes, whatever you want to call them (us) we’re on your flag, we’re the OFFICIAL STATE EMBLEM…'

I wonder why there is a pseudo and partial change of stance only. I understand that this error might be embarrassing for many people including Piping Shrike, BankSA and probably government ministers and state officials who are all complicit in propagating confusing misinformation about the identity of the bird on the State Badge. I assume that BankSA's use of the State Flag and Piping Shrike was approved by the relevant minister. I suppose money may have changed hands. It is great if the government can squeeze a few dollars from Westpac/BankSA so they can use the State emblems in their advertising. Permission to use the bird in a corporate advertising campaign does seem unusual. Here's an excerpt from the BankSA website with a facsimile of the State Flag on 'Piping Shrike's' jacket.

From http://webapps.banksa.com.au/pipingshrike/index.aspx

However, in the accompanying video, the Sate Flag does not appear on the caricature's jacket.

But on Piping Shrike's Twitter page, the State Flag appears on the jacket

https://twitter.com/mrpshrike

I hope that the State Flag will no longer used by 'Piping Shrike' or BankSA  - or both of them together - while they continue to misidentify the bird. The bird is the White Backed Magpie.

Maybe it’s simply a case of species dysphoria. Perhaps the Piping Shrike caricature actually believes that he is a White Backed Magpie. The evidence suggests this might be so. It is good that the BankSA Piping Shrike has at least begun his transition from Magpie Lark to White Backed Magpie. 

However, all of this is very confusing and downplays the significance of the Piping Shrike – and I mean the real one that appears on our flag - for our State. This unacceptable degree of confusion does not arise with our other icons all of which are all correctly identified by their name.

It's time for action from BankSA and Piping Shrike

It's time for BankSA and Piping Shrike to come clean and admit the mistake and clearly spell out that the bird on the State Flag and Badge is in fact the White Backed Magpie. If the Piping Shrike caricature maintains he is the state bird, he should alter his costume so that it no longer represents the Magpie Lark. The fact that we see the back of the bird on the State Flag and Badge is perhaps more difficult for the Piping Shrike to overcome given we always see his front in the advertising. It's a question of how far Piping Shrike and BankSA are prepared to go to correct the misinformation and clarify the bird's identity. We are talking about an important State icon after all. It doesn't make sense to perpetuate the misunderstanding.

Finally, thank you for reading my blog. Please comment, if you wish.

A letter to the South Australian Goverment

A letter to the government

I have sent copies of my blog posts to members of the South Australian Parliament and sincerely thank those who responded with a genuine interest in this topic. I thank Adam Kilvert for his responses to me in writing and by telephone. 

A Stranger in Paradise

What is the point of the fabulous image of the White Backed Australian Magpie being selected as our South Australian bird emblem, but being called a Piping Shrike, when there are no Shrikes in Australia and thus perpetuating a flawed situation, which has been disregarded by successive South Australian Governments for over a hundred years.

There is, as far as I am aware, absolutely no connection between the two bird names and therefore, no logical reason why there should not be a name change as soon as practicable.

There is also another reason why the change should occur, namely, South Australia has several other emblems that bear the same names as their respective images and therefore the emblems are clearly and correctly identified. To be CONSISTENT, the White Backed Magpie should be treated in the same manner. I believe that the government has a duty to correct this unfortunate anomaly.

It should be remembered that the White Backed Magpie is a member of the Australian Butcherbird family, the same as the rest of the nationwide magpies. Also, I am of the opinion that the presently portrayed image would have been a commissioned painting. If so, it should not be described as a stylised image; Illustrators of that time would not have had the benefit of colour photography.
As a matter of interest, white backed magpies are generally located across the  southern  part of Australia;  eg,  Western Australia,  South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania, but are only officially known as White Backed Magpies in South Australia and Victoria. The Black Backed Magpies generally inhabit the rest of the nation. All are Australian magpies.

For a comprehensive coverage of this project, please refer to my blog titled ‘Reflections on South Australia’. You can find my blog here: http://jockreflects.blogspot.com.au/
Jock McLoughlin
2 Feb 2017