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It is a fairly common thing for young Magpies to
do that (at least around here - Canberra. I even saw it in my local park
yesterday). It appears to be a form of submission display and often leads to
aggression from the parent as soon as the young bird stands up, so they often do
that until the parent moves away. It may be used in the period before the young
are finally chased off by the parents.
PV
-----Original Message-----
From:
Tony Russell <>
To:
birds <>
Date:
Wednesday, 23 January 2002 12:32
Subject: [BIRDING-AUS] Odd
behaviour - Magpie
Hi All, since completely wiping my
garden clear back to bare earth ready for
remodelling I have noticed that
a family of four magpies, not previously
present, have moved in. They can
often be seen poking about for morsels in
the bobcatted soil.
Just a
while ago I noticed one of the two fully fledged juveniles lying half
on
its side and half on its back, opening its beak and making gentle
begging
noises. Dad was alongside poking in the earth and taking
(presumably) food
to the young one as it lay on the ground. I thought at
first there may be
something wrong with the young one, but after a while
dad seemed to tire of
the "game?" and wandered off. Realising
this lack of further attention the
young one rolled over, got up, and
poked in the dirt for itself. Has anyone
else seen this sort of
thing?
Does Eggy do this with you John
?
Tony.
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