Magpie
Magpies are passerine birds of the crow family. Magpies seem to be jacks of all trades – scavengers, predators and pest-destroyers, their challenging, almost arrogant attitude has won them few friends.
Characteristics
The magpie has black-and-white plumage and a long tail, the tail accounts for over half the total length of the bird. The head, breast and back are black, the shoulders patches, belly and flanks are white. When seen close-up its black plumage takes on an altogether more colourful hue with a purplish-blue iridescent sheen to the wing feathers, and a green gloss to the tail. Juvenile Magpies have much shorter tails than their parents, the white of the plumage is dirtier, and the black is less glossy.
Habitat
Magpies build a large nest, which can take several weeks to complete, from small branches and twigs, and line it with mud and vegetation.
The nest is usually in a large tree (but sometimes in pylons) and domed to prevent predation by other crows. The hen lays and incubates eggs that are smooth, glossy and pale blue with olive-brown or grey spots. Both parents feed the young after they have hatched.
Behaviour
Magpies have quite a varied diet in their original rural habitat – insects, rodents, carrion, eggs and nestlings, grain, berries and fruit. This variety carries over into the suburban garden where they will also eat allsorts of kitchen scraps and bird foods.
The magpie can be seen all year round and surprisingly, the car, may well be the real reason behind the magpie’s recent population explosion. Until relatively recently, numbers were probably kept in check by lack of food during the winter and early spring. (During the winter months the magpie’s diet is mainly a mixture of vegetable matter and invertebrates.) The increase in the number of cars on the roads has led to a corresponding increase in wildlife road casualties, something the scavenging magpie appreciates. It is this new abundance of food that has allowed magpie numbers to grow so quickly.
Magpies are among the most intelligent of birds, so are quick to make use of new food supplies, such as car kills. What’s more, they are adept at avoiding being run over themselves.
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