Re: Australian Magpie feeding, Indooroopilly, Brisbane

To:
Subject:	Re: Australian Magpie feeding, Indooroopilly, Brisbane
From:
Date:	Mon, 2 Jul 2001 08:58:15 +1000


Seems to me that the most likely answer is that the grubs are pasture cockchafer
grubs, family Scarabaeidae.  These grubs eat the roots of grass and can be
extraordinarily abundant.  Little Ravens and Magpies sometimes dig for them on
golf courses in Melbourne.  I have heard that on some pastures in Tasmania, the
biomass of these grubs can be 20 times that of the sheep that graze above!
Clearly, we are farming the wrong protein!

Cheers

Ian





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