This morning I observed an immature male Magpie hanging from a
powerline in our suburban street by one foot. At first I thought it
was dead, having seen dead Galahs in a similar pose, but after about
30 seconds a Magpie-lark landed on the powerline and pecked at the
Magpie's foot. The Magpie released its grip, fell, then righted itself
in the air and flew off apparently perfectly normally.
It wasn't raining at the time, so bathing wasn't a motive. The
interesting thing was how long the bird hung perfectly motionless.
Also interesting was the low-key Magpie-lark; it wasn't agitated at
all, and the pecking of the Magpie's foot looked almost like a game
between them.
Perhaps we just have to accept that birds do eccentric things just for
the fun of it sometimes.
--
John Leonard
Canberra
Australia
www.jleonard.net
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