In Australia, Spring heralds warmer weather, wattle, longer days, and nesting magpies. Nesting magpies are enough to strike fear into the hearts of naughty children and posties on their motorbikes. Let me explain.
For most of the year, magpies are just normal birds, striking to look at, with a wonderful joyous call, intelligent, lovely to have in the garden because of all the bugs they eat, and generally just nice to have about. Then spring comes, and they get the nesting bug, and the males get a big personality change! They will defend their nest against anyone! Mind you, the female has built the nest high up in a tree, where no one in their right mind would even attempt to reach, so I’m not really sure what dangers there would be from humans, but the magpie obviously can see some sort of danger from a human going past, intent on getting from point A to point B with a minimum of fuss. So he flies down and always approaches from behind, and depending on how bad a mood he’s in depends on how much damage he is prepared to inflict! Most just fly overhead, some clack their beaks as they go over, and some will actually hit with their beaks and/or claws, drawing blood. Whatever they do, they always scare the daylights out of you. These days cyclists (motor and bicycle) have to wear safety helmets, so the magpies can’t actually do any damage, but from personal experience, that whoosh of wings as they pass overhead is very unsettling, and if you’re on a bike, you’ll either wobble and ride on, or you’ll fall off….
They seem to have an intense dislike for postmen (and postladies) and take even greater pains to make their lives a misery. I was watching our postlady drive her motorbike down the road, as she was returning from her run. A magpie was following her, shrieking, and diving round her head. As she drove out of his territory, he flew back to his tree, but the neighbouring magpie then took up the chase. I imagined this would continue till she returned to the post office!
Studies have been done into the social life of magpies, but there’s still a lot to be learned. From what I have noticed myself, and from what I have read, it seems that there is Mr and Mrs Magpie. If the territory will support it, they have assistants. Whether these are their young from before is not clear, but there seems to be more females than males. Perhaps the young males get thrown out! But Mrs Magpie builds the nest without help from Mr Magpie, but I suspect her assistants help her. Then she lays the eggs, up to six, and sits on them for around 3 weeks waiting for them to hatch. During this time, she is fed by Mr Magpie and co. Must be a terribly exciting life sitting on the nest for that length of time and not even getting up to have a stretch…..but those eggs have to be kept warm at all costs! If something happens to her mate (and sometimes it does) she of course will leave the nest to feed, before she dies of starvation, but there is a very real danger of the eggs getting cold, and of course then the eggs won’t hatch. But assuming all goes well, after three weeks, up to three babies are hatched from the eggs, and the whole community knows. They have the loudest insistent voices, and then mum and dad, and everyone else in their social set up, is busy finding food to feed these hungry little critters. After about three or four weeks, their flight feathers have grown, but they are still covered with down, and they think they can fly. They launch themselves from the nest, and glide to the ground. There is no way you could call it flying, but that’s what they do. Mum and Dad then abandon the nest, they just go with the babies, and continue shovelling food down their continually open beaks. Not all babies survive their “maiden flights” (more properly called maiden glide). Some land in the middle of busy roads, or in the backyard of someone with a savage dog, or the like. But these, fortunately, are a minority, and soon they grow sufficiently to attempt true flight, and follow their parents around wherever they go, in their search for food. The adults always know which humans will assist them, and they always take their babies there for handouts. It is hilarious to watch them. One parent will find some food, be it a grub, or a piece of meat left out by a human, and the baby will rush up to the adult, begging pitifully and fluttering its wings. The babies by this time are as tall as their parents, but much scrawnier looking. The parent will turn to the baby, whose beak is wide open, and thrust the little morsel down this cavernous opening. The baby will gulp it down, and stop squawking only for an instant. Then as Mum or Dad continues its quest for food, baby will rush after and repeat the performance! This goes on for months, until eventually the baby who has by this time grown some more durable feathers, and is looking quite handsome realises (sometimes it is FORCED to realise by its exasperated parents) that it CAN feed itself, and becomes independent.
But back to the ferocious nesting magpie. There is a nesting pair (I suspect with at least one assistant) in the huge gum tree at the back of my place. Earlier in the season, I saw the female taking hessian threads, and sticks, and pieces of dry grass up into the tree. She was of course preparing the nest. Then she disappeared, but the male bird was always in attendance, and often wandering round my yard looking for food. Worms are plentiful in my yard, and in my neighbourhood, so I knew he wasn’t starving, and presumably neither was she. Then he started divebombing passerbys. He never attempts to attack me, or my close neighbours, he obviously doesn’t regard us as threats. One neighbour actively feeds the magpies, so he’s definitely seen as a good guy. Although just the other day, he upset the bird, because he unthinkingly gave him some meat scraps covered in garlic pepper. The bird took the pieces of meat from his hand, ate them, then rushed over to a patch of dirt, wiping his beak furiously! He refused any further offers of food, and flew off in a huff! My neighbour reckons the bird doesn’t like pepper…. So we’re waiting for the first baby squawk. It must be soon…. But in the meantime, Father Magpie continues his guard duty. The other day an eagle flew overhead, high in the sky. Father flew straight up in the air shrieking defiance, and followed the eagle until it had left his territory. Not quite sure what he thought he would have done had he caught said eagle, but he was gonna have a go! And today, there were four children on pushbikes, riding up and down the street. Of course every time they went past, out came this feathered bomb shell. The kids thought it was a great joke, and continued riding past, just to get a reaction. They were really enjoying themselves. Had they not had bike helmets on they may not have felt so sure of themselves….
I have had the pleasure of rearing several magpie chicks. I have also at times had to look after “teenage” magpies, we call them juveniles, or immatures. These ones obviously aren’t old enough to have had their own babies, but when the little ones start squawking for food, the teenagers will rush over and try to feed them. Sometimes inexpertly, but they try. I’m never sure whether it’s an instinct with them to respond with food whenever they hear that noise, or whether it’s just a case of “here eat this and shut up”!
I have also seen the interaction between magpies and other animals, particularly cats. Most cats seem to regard magpies (and their strong beaks) with great respect, and feel there must be easier meals to be caught out there. A former neighbour of mine had an experience with her new cat, who was at that time around 6 months old. He was exploring in the back yard and came upon a magpie and started to stalk it. At that stage he hadn’t learned about respect for magpies. He leaped in the direction of the magpie, who easily avoided him, and flew away, but returned a few minutes later with several other members of his group. They then proceeded to threaten the cat, and he took refuge under her car. He stayed there for probably an hour with the magpies on patrol duty round the car, before they eventually got bored and flew away. This was witnessed with amazement by her son, who just sat and watched….he was prepared to step in if the birds actively attacked the cat, but he also thought the cat should learn his place in the society of the back yard….
Now a word of explanation. Magpies exist in many places of the world. The Australian Magpie is not related to the magpies found in the UK/Europe, or the ones found in the American Continent, or the ones in Asia. However, those ones are all more or less related to each other, as they all belonging to the crow family. The Australian Magpie is not a member of the crow family, but was given the name of magpie by European settlers, who saw its colouring and thought of its similarity to the European magpie’s colouring.
It seems that magpies, whatever their place of origin, at times attract bad press. Australian Magpies with their divebombing habits, and European/American Magpies with their raucous calls, and their crowlike garbagemen duties. Also the fact that both lots of birds have been known (not often with the Australian one, but it does happen) to take young from other birds nests. These sorts of behaviours do not endear them to people. In Australia, some people think magpies dive bomb all the year round and fear them. Likewise magpies in the UK have been blamed for the demise of smaller birds, and the endangering of those species.
All birds and animals (including humans) have good and bad points. They all have much to teach us, and all have their place in the scheme of things. While at the moment all magpies are plentiful, throughout their ranges, having adapted admirably to human beings, this can’t be said for everything. Many animals and birds have become endangered through loss of habitat and pollution, some are even extinct. So we have to enjoy the contribution from all wildlife, even if sometimes it means we have to duck as a feathered whirlwind passes overhead!…..
Mamaroo's Diary 