Australian Magpie females lay three to five blue or green, brown-blotched eggs. Incubation time: 20 days. The chicks are fed by their mother and have feathers and are ready to fly in about four weeks. Within 2 years, the young magpies are forced by their parents to leave the territory.
Family life
Being territorial birds, up to 10 magpies will sometimes group together in a 'tribe' to defend their home. However, most territories are 'owned' by a male and female pair. A territory will have sufficiently reliable feeding and watering areas, and tall trees for shelter and nesting.
Many young die in the first few months due to road hazards, natural predators and lack of sufficient food. Within two years the young are forced by their parents to leave the group and may join another group or create their own territory. What you can do protect yourself from swooping Magpies!
And since magpies can live between 25 and 30 years and are territorial, they can develop lifelong friendships with humans. This bond can extend to trusting certain people around their offspring.
Magpies love:
Open woodlands with tall trees but no understory. Big, old trees which give them somewhere safe to build their nests and sleep at night. Hunting and eating insects. Mimicking other birds' calls, car alarms, dogs barking, phones ringing and even human voices.
Deterrents for magpies
Half-full plastic bottles or CDs hung up in trees to scare the predators away. Magpies don't like the way light reflects from the surface. GuardnEyes scarecrow balloon, available from Dazer UK.
Magpies feel grief and even hold funeral-type gatherings for their fallen friends and lay grass “wreaths” beside their bodies, an animal behaviour expert has claimed. Dr Bekoff, of the University of Colorado, said these rituals prove that magpies, usually seen as an aggressive predator, also have a compassionate side.
The diet of a magpie
Their main diet in summer is grassland invertebrates, such as beetles, flies, caterpillars, spiders, worms and leatherjackets. In winter, they eat more plant material, such as wild fruits, berries and grains, with household scraps and food scavenged from bird tables or chicken runs, pet foods etc.
Steer Clear: Foods to Avoid Feeding Magpies
Bread, for example, should be avoided as it lacks essential nutrients and can even cause birth defects in nestlings. Another food to be cautious about is plain mince, which contains high levels of phosphate that can result in calcium loss from magpies' beaks and bones.
On the other hand, urban breeding Magpies reuse their old nests significantly more often than their rural counterparts (Tatner 1982a). Increased nest reuse occurrence is pointed as one of the main changes in the ecology of this species evolved in the condi- tions of urban environment (Tatner 1982b).
The Best Response. If you see a young magpie on the ground the best thing to do is observe it. If it doesn't look injured and is not in any danger, leave it where it is, especially if the parents are around.
And throughout the rest of the world magpies are not always seen as so unlucky: China – a singing magpie will bring good fortune and is a symbol of happiness and good luck. Korea – magpies deliver good news and invite good people into your life.
Magpies hold impromptu funerals and mourn their dead
The magpies will join in the squawking, the sounds getting louder as they continue to gather around the body. This noise will then fall silent for a period of reflection, where the magpies will walk around their deceased kind.
Interesting fact: It's true, magpies remember your face. They have excellent recall for faces and very long memories. So, if you've been swooped before, or even if you just look like someone they swooped last year, you're likely to get the same treatment again.
The young use noise as a survival strategy—they are loud by design. They yell at their parents to feed them. They yell at each other. They yell to scare off predators.
Magpies will often mate for life. However, if a male is killed while the young are in the nest, the female will take a new partner. He'll help protect the young even though he's not genetically related to them.
In 2009, a researcher from the University of Colorado published detailed observations of four magpies at a funeral alongside the corpse of a fifth bird, and concluded that the birds were displaying humanlike emotions.
Befriending a magpie
Gisela says you could also try and temp them with a little magpie-friendly food to show you aren't a threat. If, for whatever reason, the magpie feels threatened by you, try not to run away from them fast.
Forget fake eyes and spiky helmets — if you want to avoid being attacked by magpies, just make an effort to be friends with them.
“It's the birds responding to things they perceive as threats. That includes humans, dogs, cats, snakes and anything else the magpie decides is a threat to its chicks.” That might also include other magpies.
Magpies have shown the ability to make and use tools, imitate human speech, grieve, play games, and work in teams.
About a year and a half ago we rescued a baby magpie that was laying in an alley with dead birds all around. After a few months Pie the magpie became imprinted on us and started talking and mimicking us.
Djarrawunang, wilbung, and marriyang are all names for the Australian magpie used by the Darug people of the Sydney basin.