Magpies – Smart, witty birds
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During a storm it had fallen out of a nest in our garden and I spotted it when I saw my cat approaching it. Tiny and hungry, it was happy to be fed and took bits of cat food from a pair of tweezers.
The next day another fell out - there was no way for us to reach the nest to return either of them, so we brought it in too.
It resolutely refused to eat and thought we were terrifying, even though it's relative would eat in front of it. It died quickly overnight, though we were not sure how long it had been out the nest.
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The first magpie, we named Marilyn as I had just learnt the name had normally been a male name before Marilyn Monroe, so I thought it a good unisex name.
It grew really attached to us - we'd feed it as often as it wanted, and it would perch on some bamboo rods that my father fixed up in the kitchen and chatter to use while we were talking. It would fly to my shoulder and back when asked to, and enjoyed being stroked and scratched.
Each night it would fly to a box we had so we could put it to bed and keep it safe from our cats (who generally seemed pretty uninterested as it grew bigger).
For a period we would take it into the garden each day, and it would fly off and return as much as it wanted, coming back into the kitchen through our open door. Then one day it suddenly learnt how to eat and drink by itself - the next day it flew off and we never knowingly saw it again.
I later read that in the middle ages they were common pets - but they would clip their wings for the first few months so they lose the urge to fly away. I am sad it left, but glad we didn't, I hope it lived a good magpie life somewhere.
I still say 'Marilyn' to magpies I meet, just in case it is them :)
It would stand on my shoe, and I'd lift it up. It'd bite onto the side of my shoe, and I'd play tug of war with it.
At one point I was diagnosing a car battery issue, and when I had the hood popped, it got territorial over my car. I kept trying to lead it away by enticing it with something distracting a little ways away from the car, and then running back to check my battery. But it would return.
A couple times, I pulled out of my spot to head to work in the morning, and it'd ride on top of my car for a few seconds before I started driving too fast.
They're such interesting birds. I kinda miss that one.
Many birds will play with objects in their aviaries to varying degrees. Vultures (Hooded and Egyptian) will pull on shoe laces. Owls and Kites will fly off with a sponge if you take your eyes off it while cleaning their aviary. Caracaras are about as safe to have around as a raccoon. Many birds will look inside a bucket or try to pull it over.
These birds vary a lot in their intelligence, as indicated by their ability to solve problems to access food.
e.g use a visual cue, such as a dollar bill, coupled with food reward. attempt to cargo cult the birds, into replicating conditions associated with reward. to the end, birds will find the cue [$] and bring it to the trade post /vending machine.
the bird doesnt need to "know" any material value, other than; a particular item, at a particular place, allows food discovery
that doesn't sound very safe. Raccoons look like friendly rascally creatures but I think they can do some damage.
I love my birds, but they're definitely not the pet for everyone. I'd encourage anyone thinking of adopting one to volunteer at a rescue first to get a better idea of whether they're the right pet for your lifestyle.
Shortly later, saw the mom feeding the baby.
They never yelled at us again, and would often peek in our windows at us, or hang out in front of our glass door looking in.
The German name of Magpie is Elster.
They are known for liking and 'acquiring' shiny things like coins.
The German online portal for tax declaration is called Elster as well.
Apparently it stands for ELektronische STeuerERklärung :)
Most casual observers in Australia might confuse the magpie with the bower bird (lemme smash / want sum bekky bird), which does collect blue/shiny things and its nest is at ground level.
It lived with us for about three weeks as it recuperated, slowly spending more time in the yard and eventually flying away. It was really fun to have around, it would perch on top of my laptop and watch me as I worked, occasionally poking at my head, or flopping down to look at the screen.
It was a very smart and attentive bird. The one time we left it alone in the kitchen, it climbed the shelves and pecked a hole in its birdseed bag. 10/10 would recommend.
So us kids would compete to see who could last the longest walking past them, as soon as you ran, or put your backpack over your head to protect yourself, you lost.
No-one ever made it past the third nest without breaking.
I know someone on a farm who had a few as pets. One somehow was taught to roll on its back and lift a fork/spoon like a barbell
Probably my favourite bird, even if they swoop me every year.
Most foreigners picturing an Australian magpie might be picture something like the Australian Magpie-Lark, which looks a lot more like euro magpies and so on. But the Australian Magpie looks more like a crow or raven with white and black feathers. They even croak like crows, but alas, not related apparently.
Well ma'am, those are magpies, and we all complain about them. I still laugh about that, but I do think it's sweet to be able to look at even magpies through a fresh perspective and see they are beautiful, and wonderful, in their own way.
https://www.eagletimes.com/lifestyles/of-a-feather-why-no-ma...
They're obnoxious and aggressive.
They have to care for "teenager" birds, I suspect prolonged adolescence may be part of the socialisation of the species.
Some people say Tasmanian Magpies are less swoopy than the mainland. Which goes to "culture"
Members of the wider Cracticus family.
I now hate magpies.
Here's the thing. You said a "jackdaw is a crow." ...