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