OK Ray, since you have thrown down the challenge, this is my story from
yesterday.
Dad Magpie in our neighbourhood is so tame that he follows me inside when I
go to the fridge for his ration of meat. Yesterday afternoon I had been in
the back yard photographing a magnificent iridescent beetle I had found, and
decided to put him (the beetle) under the gum tree out the front in a place
a bit protected from magpies. I just quickly walked through the house
leaving the doors open as I went, put the beetle under the tree and came
back in the front door banging it behind me. I didn?t know that Dad Magpie
had followed me and was standing in the front hallway when I banged the
door. Poor little bird got the fright of his life and took to the air in a
desperate attempt to escape, squirting panic-stricken diarrhoea in all
directions as he went. By some miracle, he neither broke anything nor shat
on my photography gear. And was the poor little magpie traumatised? Not
he! As soon as I walked out with a morsel of meat for him he came straight
up and took it out of my hand. Forgiveness all round.
Margaret Leggoe
-----Original Message-----
From: Ray Comer
Sent: Monday, 30 September 2013 12:19 PM
To:
Cc:
Subject: Magpie Habits
A close friend has told us a very interesting story of magpies coming to his
second floor balcony in Turner where he has been feeding them. It started
off with just the one but then, over time it has become a family outing.
Last week one of the magpies arrived with a cricket in its mouth, trying to
warble at the same time. The bird then deposited the cricket at his feet,
warbled again, then left. This was repeated the next day.
I know there will be mixed views about feeding magpies in this way but I did
wonder if others have any similar stories to pass on, or could suggest what
the magpie is doing, 'feeding' or 'thanking' perhaps?
Ray Comer
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