Hi Alberta,
From memory, the oldest bird banded under
the Australian Bird and Bat Banding Schemes, is over 26 years old. So far this
is probably the exception as mortality is high in the first few years of life
but it wouldn’t surprise me if magpies in general lived on average 15 to
20 years. We have thornbills and scrubwrens pushing 18 to 20 years old and are
now regularly getting shearwater species over 40 years. Australia’s birds generally live longer
than birds in Europe and North America as we
don’t normally get their climate extremes. If you google the Environment
Australia website, then follow the links to the ABBBS site, you can find a
whole host of information on longevity on Australia’s birds.
Hope this is of some use.
Cheers,
Mark
From:
Alberta Hayes [
Sent: Wednesday, 27 January 2010
3:13 PM
To: Canberra Birds
Subject: [canberrabirds] Magpie
lifespans
Hey everyone,
My friends have taken to asking me bird related questions whenever they think
of them, an whilst I can generally answer them, they did ask one I didn't know
yesterday.
How long do magpies live for? I can't say I've ever thought about it, but
thought maybe 10 years? How wrong am I?
Alberta Hayes, bombarded with questions since friends got new housemates,
Monash.
