Val Ford wrote:
Terry Pacey's piece about the butcherbird devouring the Noisy Miner has
reminded me of a similar observation in my back yard.
I went outside a couple of days ago to see what had made the loud thud,
somewhere near our door, and saw a Peaceful Dove flying away (with a
stray feather floating on the breeze) and "our" handreared, semi-wild
Magpie in hot pursuit.
When I followed them into the nearby trees I found the maggie sitting on
the now-dead dove. Magpie was in the crouching, wings out, tail and head
up, posture, fluttering and chirping in a juvenile-type manner (She's
over a year old). I picked her up, acertained that the dove was dead
then decided to let nature take its course and put the maggie down
again. When I left her she was pulling feathers out of the dove.
Was the maggie being opportunist - chasing down an already
stunned/injured dove and (maybe) finishing it off, or did she attack the
dove in the first place? We'll never know, but I did find her in
similarly compromising circumstances 3 weeks ago, perched on a fledgling
Spiny-cheeked Honey-eater with 2 distraught parent honey-eaters
attacking her. They flew off when I approached and I confiscated her
(alread dead) prey on that occasion, hoping to discourage her from such
activity, but apparently it didn't work.
I hope I haven't reared a "rogue" magpie! At least it confirmed what I
already knew - she isn't dependent on us for food!!
Several years ago I also witnessed another adult magpie chase, kill and
eat a fledgeling House Sparrow.
Anne
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