I had never heard any mimicry by a Magpie until about 6-8 weeks ago when I
was returning to my car at the western entrance to Mulligan?s Flat. I
heard a Grey Butcherbird calling ? that was no surprise as the location is
the most reliable one that I know of in the ACT for the species ? but I
was intrigued because the bird carried on with a range of notes that I had
not previously heard from a Grey Butcherbird. I then became a little
confused because a Magpie started to call from the same area. For a
moment I thought there must be a Butcherbird and a Magpie, but it didn?t
sound like there were two birds involved. I investigated further, and
found the culprit, a Magpie, singing from an exposed perch with a
continuous mixture of ?normal? Magpie notes, a jumble of other notes, and
clear Grey Butcherbird notes.
I have checked Gisela Kaplan?s book on the magpie, and have learned
several interesting points that may be worth repeating here:
* Mimicry is ?extremely widespread amongst Australian birds? ? I must
admit that is not something that I?ve noticed much, except with the
lyrebird.
* ?Magpies mimic cats, dogs, horses, humans, other birds and even
potential predators (such as the barking owl).?
* Unlike lyrebirds, magpies do not usually mimic inanimate objects, like
mobile phones, etc.
* ?Magpies do not string their mimicked sequence along a fixed sequence as
lyrebirds do but intersperse their own song with snippets in any manner
possible.?
* ?Magpie mimicry seems to be largely related to territoriality.? Samples
found that ?all mimicked sequences were linked to species that occur
within the territorial boundaries of the mimicking magpie.? ?Mimicry
occurs very selectively and will include only sounds that *belong* to the
magpie?s own territory.?
* The previous point is relevant to Gisela?s theory that ?agonistic
behaviour against humans depends on the presence or absence of specific
individuals during the nest-building phase.? ?Magpies tend to attack only
those that are not part of the territory.?
Regards
Frank
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