My black and white bird plaques

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Some years ago we bought these at a market day. They are wall plaques and I fell in love with them as soon as I saw them. The birds are painted on old corrugated iron. The husband drives over the iron sheets once or twice to flatten them out a bit. The finished product is nailed onto rough portions of wood. The top birds are mudlarks, the middle one a magpie and the lower ones willy wagtails. The mudlark (Grallina cyanoleuca) is a passerine or seed-eater, native to Australia, Timor and southern New Guinea. The male and female both have black and white plumage and are 25 to 30 cm (9.8 to 11.8 in) long when fully grown. Our magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen) differs from the British magpie. Does America have a magpie? There are nine recognised subspecies. They are solid and sturdy, ranging from 37 to 43 cm (14.5 to 17 in) in length. They are a glossy black and white. The legs are quite long and it walks rather than waddling or hopping. It is an accomplished songbird and a good mimic. My mother had a group of magpies which would turn up regularly to be fed. Magpies have a reputation for becoming aggressive during the breeding season. The willy wagtail (Rhipidura leucophrys) is insectivorous and gets its name from its habit of wagging its tail when foraging on the ground. You often see them perched on the backs of domestic livestock. It is 19–21.5 cm (7 1/2–8 1/2 in) in length with almost entirely black upperparts and white underparts. We took these plaques off the wall when we painted the lounge room but now it’s time for them to go back up. The paintings are by Diana Bostock from Margaret River, Western Australia.