Steve:
Thanks for sharing your observations. Unless there was food
attached to the vine I would interpretive your magpie's activity as
playful behaviour. I have several questions: 1) What was the sex and age
of the bird (in your message you refer to it as a male and female);
2) Can you be more precise about how long the bird continued this
interesting activity? Any other details? BTW, magpies, especially
juveniles, are known to "play".
I plan to write an article on play behaviour in an upcoming
issue of the Interpretive Birding Bulletin, do you mind if I cite your
observation in the article?
Cheers, Jim
e-mail
On Wed, 4 Feb 1998 wrote:
> G'day All
>
> I stopped briefly in Avoca (central Victoria) yesterday on my way home
> from a meeting in Bendigo. There is an ornamental garden in the median
> strip with a pergola thingy covered in creepers of some sort (grape
> vines?). I watched with amusement as a magpie jumped 1/2 metre off the
> ground to catch the end of a creeper branch. It then swung vertically by
> the beak and twirled around. This was repeated several times over a few
> minutes. He looked like a circus high wire artiste hanging by her teeth.
>
> I've seen Galahs, corellas playing on wires etc. but never before seen a
> magpie behaving like this.
>
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