Re: Magpie diet, camoflage and song

Hi All,

Last week i was driving beside a coastal
saltmarsh near a residential area, when a magpie swooped down from a nearby
powerline with more intent and attack in its actions than i had ever seen
before in a magpie.  Fascinated by what it was after, I stopped further
up the road, and put my scope on the magpie.  It had pulled a small
mouse from the saltmarsh, and took it to a grassy naturestrip to eat it,
where it quickly finished it off.

Are mice a common food source for Magpies?
I read that it was part of their diet, but i have never witnessed it before,
and it seemed very unusual.

After looking at photos i took of the
magpie, i noticed something very interesting. In one photo, the magpie
is looking striaght down the barrell of the camera and it shows an amazing
peice of natural illusion.  If you look at a Magpies beak it is mostly
white/grey/blue, but has a black tip. When you look straight down a magpies
bill, the white/grey/blue colouration makes the black tip appear flat-curved,
short, raptor-like and set against its face - the white/grey appearing
to be a circular face patch. If an insect. mouse or whatever had a magpie
staring down at it, it would think that the birds bill is set against its
face, and was thus a safe distance away from it. However, in reality, the
long heavy bill and tip  would be much closer to its prey than it
thinks and be able to peck at its prey without it getting away.  Amazing.


My third observation (question) about
magpies, was prompted by a beautiful call i heard also last week. It made
me ask the question "Does the black backed magpie have a different
call to the white back magpie?"

Can anyone answer this? 

Peter