Another ship-assisted Magpie

[Les Thyer <>]

Hi All,

Following reports of a Black-billed Magpie (Pica pica) - like bird at he carpark of the Port of Hay Point, Les Thyer and Desley Williams went down at 0630 hrs today (Thursday 22nd) to investigate.

It only took a couple of minutes before the bird was located in a Casuarina beside the change rooms and yes it was a Magpie (Pica pica sericea) the sub species from China & Asia,  identifiable by much more of the purple/blue sheen on the back than the nominate race in  Europe. I took several photos of the bird some 30 ft  up in the tree, before it was chased away by some irate Willy Wagtails.

 I feel it can be safely assumed that since Hay Point is a busy international seaport, that the magpie has either flown ashore of it's own freewill, or was released by it's owner before being spotted by Quarantine officers.

Chinese believe Magpies bring good luck ( maybe because their call sounds like a bag of coins being shaken) and the short range of the magpie rules out a migrant/vagrant.

Reports from the HPS employees at the port indicate that the bird has been there for about 1 week and comes into the floodlit workshop at night to gather moths and insects attracted to the lights. It has also been observed feeding on earthworms in the gardens of the carpark .

Cheers
Les Thyer
Mackay
Qld