Post by PeterB on Oct 10, 2005 2:00:53 GMT -4
Well, now that we’re well into October, we’re past most of the magpie swooping season here in Australia.
Magpies in Australia aren’t that much like their British namesakes (are there magpies in America?), except that they’re black and white birds. Australian magpies stand about 25 centimetres tall, and are imperious looking, barrel-chested birds. The males have shiny feathers, while the females and chicks are slightly greyer. They’re quite intelligent and have a gorgeous call known as a warble. The variety in warbling is considerable, and they make pleasant listening. Magpies generally eat grubs from the ground, though they’re also quite partial to bread or meat from humans. As a result, magpies thrive in urban areas - there’s a colony of about 40 about 100 metres from where I work.
Magpie families generally consist of two parents and one or two chicks born in early spring. However, if there’s enough food, they’ll form larger groups which I assume contain lots of relatives. Interestingly, I’ve noticed that some magpies are raising chicks in late autumn, and I wonder whether this is a recent adaptation to the good living available in the city.
Magpies start nesting in late winter, and the job of raising chicks lasts for a few months. Once the chicks are strong enough to fly, they trot around after their parents as they forage. The babies keep up an incessant call which sounds a lot like “Hey? Hey? Hey?” which only stops when one of their parents shoves food in their beaks. After a while the chicks get the hang of foraging for themselves, though early in the process they may stand there with food in their beaks, as though they haven’t yet worked out how to swallow food which hasn’t been forced down their throats. Weaning seems to involve a bit of violence, with the parents apparently doing whatever they consider necessary to convince the chicks to go their own way.
The one bad part of life with magpies is their potential behaviour during nesting. A small proportion of male magpies indulge in swooping, ostensibly in defence of their nests. The curious things about swooping are that only a small proportion of magpies swoop, and they’re quite selective about who they swoop. Some will usually swoop dogs, while others will usually swoop pedestrians, and others will usually swoop cyclists. Swooping magpies usually dive silently from behind, snapping their beak as they pass over. They then climb, and will often turn around for extra goes. Having been swooped perhaps 20 times in my life, I have to say it’s one of the more unnerving experiences, particularly if you’re on a bicycle, and even worse if you’re sharing a road with car traffic.
As magpies are protected animals, we can’t go out and destroy them, and as a result, other methods have been tried. Relocating the offenders doesn’t work (I can’t remember whether they just head back to their old grounds, or take up swooping in their new grounds), and trimming their feathers to make their swoop unstable doesn’t help either (the birds learn to adjust). Ultimately, it’s the humans who have to adjust. People are encouraged to wear a hat with big eyes painted on the back (magpies supposedly won’t swoop if they think they’re being watched) carry an umbrella or just avoid the area, and Parks and Conservation staff put signs up warning people of the location of the worst swoopers.
The magpie is such an iconically Australian animal that it’s not surprising it’s been adopted as the mascot of several Australian football teams, including the Melbourne-based Australian Rules Football team, the Collingwood Magpies. (And yes, that’s the team I support.)
If I get the time, I'll try to provide some links to pictures.
Magpies in Australia aren’t that much like their British namesakes (are there magpies in America?), except that they’re black and white birds. Australian magpies stand about 25 centimetres tall, and are imperious looking, barrel-chested birds. The males have shiny feathers, while the females and chicks are slightly greyer. They’re quite intelligent and have a gorgeous call known as a warble. The variety in warbling is considerable, and they make pleasant listening. Magpies generally eat grubs from the ground, though they’re also quite partial to bread or meat from humans. As a result, magpies thrive in urban areas - there’s a colony of about 40 about 100 metres from where I work.
Magpie families generally consist of two parents and one or two chicks born in early spring. However, if there’s enough food, they’ll form larger groups which I assume contain lots of relatives. Interestingly, I’ve noticed that some magpies are raising chicks in late autumn, and I wonder whether this is a recent adaptation to the good living available in the city.
Magpies start nesting in late winter, and the job of raising chicks lasts for a few months. Once the chicks are strong enough to fly, they trot around after their parents as they forage. The babies keep up an incessant call which sounds a lot like “Hey? Hey? Hey?” which only stops when one of their parents shoves food in their beaks. After a while the chicks get the hang of foraging for themselves, though early in the process they may stand there with food in their beaks, as though they haven’t yet worked out how to swallow food which hasn’t been forced down their throats. Weaning seems to involve a bit of violence, with the parents apparently doing whatever they consider necessary to convince the chicks to go their own way.
The one bad part of life with magpies is their potential behaviour during nesting. A small proportion of male magpies indulge in swooping, ostensibly in defence of their nests. The curious things about swooping are that only a small proportion of magpies swoop, and they’re quite selective about who they swoop. Some will usually swoop dogs, while others will usually swoop pedestrians, and others will usually swoop cyclists. Swooping magpies usually dive silently from behind, snapping their beak as they pass over. They then climb, and will often turn around for extra goes. Having been swooped perhaps 20 times in my life, I have to say it’s one of the more unnerving experiences, particularly if you’re on a bicycle, and even worse if you’re sharing a road with car traffic.
As magpies are protected animals, we can’t go out and destroy them, and as a result, other methods have been tried. Relocating the offenders doesn’t work (I can’t remember whether they just head back to their old grounds, or take up swooping in their new grounds), and trimming their feathers to make their swoop unstable doesn’t help either (the birds learn to adjust). Ultimately, it’s the humans who have to adjust. People are encouraged to wear a hat with big eyes painted on the back (magpies supposedly won’t swoop if they think they’re being watched) carry an umbrella or just avoid the area, and Parks and Conservation staff put signs up warning people of the location of the worst swoopers.
The magpie is such an iconically Australian animal that it’s not surprising it’s been adopted as the mascot of several Australian football teams, including the Melbourne-based Australian Rules Football team, the Collingwood Magpies. (And yes, that’s the team I support.)
If I get the time, I'll try to provide some links to pictures.
