well, the adult magpies have stopped attacking, but the babies are doing
some pretty weird things. Our two fledglings appear to be without
accompanying adults as they were a few weeks ago, but they don't ever
seem to leave each other's company. They often frequent our backyard, to
poke around in the lawn and garden. They seem to get along pretty well,
but sometimes they scuffle. It's almost like wrestling, when one bird
pins the other to the ground, on its back with its legs up in the air.
The odd thing is that after the winning bird has moved off, the other
remains on the ground on its back for several seconds before getting up.
I was thinking originally that this was some sort of sibling rivalry, or
that one bird was dominant over the other, but they both take part, and
both have "won." I see this sort of thing regularly, and it's unlike
anything I've ever seen birds do. Has anyone ever seen this behavior
before? It's very comical, this magpie playing dead with its claws in
the air.
cheers,
Katie
Katie Bertsche .........If you're too busy to go birding, you're too busy.
http://www.bowdoin.edu/~kbertsch
--------------------------------------------------------------oOOo--------
|
