[7] Gould noted similarities to the British pied wag-tail, and its flight to that of the European common pewit.

[4] Unlike many species in southwestern Australia, the magpie-lark was given names by the local indigenous people that were onomatopoeic (sounding like the calls they make).

Names recorded include byoolkolyedi (Perth and lowlands), dilabot (mountains and interior), and koolyibarak.

[14] The magpie-lark is a small to medium size bird, reaching 25 to 30 cm (9.8 to 11.8 in) long when fully grown, or about the same size as a European common blackbird, and boldly pied in black and white; the weight range is 63.9 to 118 g (2.25 to 4.16 oz) for males, and 70 to 94.5 g (2.47 to 3.33 oz) for females.

In 1924 it was introduced onto Lord Howe Island which lies 600 km (370 mi) to the east of Australia in the Tasman Sea.

[15] The magpie-lark is a familiar sight around Australia; sitting on telephone wires either alone or in pairs, or patrolling patches of bare ground, especially foreshores or swamps.

It has benefited greatly from agriculture: both the clearing of dense forest in fertile zones and the provision of artesian water in arid areas—although a disaster for other species—have been a boon for bare-ground and short-grass feeders like magpies and magpie-larks.

[a][21] Although their attacks on people are not as aggressive as those of masked lapwings and magpies, they can still result in surprise or minor injury to the recipient.

The nest is round, about 150 mm in diameter with vertical sides and is usually placed on a flat branch somewhere near water or on a horizontal beam of a telephone pole.

Breeding is opportunistic, usually from August to February in the fertile south, anytime after rain in drier areas, and multiple broods are common when conditions allow.

Incubation of eggs takes up to eighteen days, and the young birds fledge about three weeks after hatching.

Traditionally, it has been thought that the function of duet singing (not just in magpie-larks but birds more generally and indeed in mammals, insects and frogs) was to defend a territory or to maintain the pair-bond.