I too have a young male magpie who makes regular visits to my garden in the
Blue Mountains, NSW. Last week I was sitting on my back deck when he landed
on the guard rail. He warbled softly to himself and then I was surprised to
hear him mimic the call of a Yellow Tailed Black Cockatoo, Grey Shrike
Thrush, Grey Butcherbird, Lyrebird and to cap it all off, a yapping dog ! I
don't feed him but he's a confiding little character.
I recently found him in the garden with his beak wide open and wings
drooping. I initially thought he was sick but he flew to the bird bath,
took a couple of sips but remained with in the same drooping stance. It was
quite a warm day so I presumed this was his method of cooling himself. He
then flew down to the base of a "sleeper" retaining wall and lay there in
full sunlight with his head nestled against the wall. The soil is sandy but
he didn't use it as a dust bath nor are there any ant nests in the vicinity
which he could use. When I approached him, he perked up and quickly flew
off much to my relief.
Rgds
Clive Meadows
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