On a sleepy street in Orange, an extraordinary family gathers on a patch of lush lawn.
All the snowy white magpies in this tribe have leucism — a rare genetic mutation which scrambles pigment codes during embryonic development.
Leucism is more common in magpies than other species, according BirdlLife Australia's Sean Dooley, because smaller birds with the mutation tend not to last long.
"A bird that has leucism or albinism is more likely to stand out, so they're more vulnerable to predators or more vulnerable to being rejected by their own species," Mr Dooley said.
"But perhaps with magpies, they're higher up in the pecking order and they're quite bold birds, so perhaps they do better than a lot of smaller species.
"Magpies are quite socially cooperative.
"The pair bond is really strong and you can also get the family group [dynamic], so maybe they're not as vulnerable."
'A message from the outside world'
Mr Dooley said BirdLife Australia has received an increase in enquiries since the coronavirus lockdown, with many people convinced birds are acting strangely.
"We've had a lot of people saying, 'The birds are going crazy as well,'" he said.
"'Is the coronavirus affecting them? Is the shutdown affecting them?'"
But Mr Dooley says these observations are likely more imagined than real.
"What it is, primarily, is people noticing them," he said.
"They've got more time, life's slowed down and people are seeing things they normally would ignore or just not be aware of."
Mr Dooley hopes that recent global events will kickstart an enduring change to people's relationship with the environment.
"It's a remarkable time, people are connecting with the birds," he said.
"Even I'm finding the fact that I can at least see birds in my backyard every day amazingly comforting.
"The birdsong of every morning is a bit like a message from the outside world.
"Every day the world keeps turning, things keep moving."
