birding-aus

Magpies again

To: "birds birds birds" <>
Subject: Magpies again
From: "Tony Russell" <>
Date: Mon, 23 Sep 2002 11:47:41 +0930
Fooled you all, this is nothing to do with footy - there wasn't any to =
speak of at the weekend anyway.

I've been aware of a pair of White-backed Maggies ( Maggatoni & =
Maggarita) hanging around my house and garden for the last six months or =
so and the other day noticed a sweet young thing being "buzzed" as she =
walked past my place. Thinking "Aha, they're probably nesting nearby", I =
went looking this morning for the nest and quickly heard some of those =
appealing squeaks of the youngsters begging for food. A pair of young =
grey coloured birds with their parents were out on the soccer field ( =
note, not footy) being fed. But as soon as the parents saw me they =
quickly shoo-ed the youngsters into a tree and proceeded to dive bomb me =
! Me !! , their greatest friend and ally ! Cheeky things.
 I retreated waving my arms over my head and was struck by the fact that =
both parents were attacking, contrary to what has been suggested =
recently on this net, ie only the male attacks intruders.

I have subsequently tried again , a bit more cautiously this time and =
wearing a stiff hat, to locate the nest where the youngsters were =
raised, but thus far haven't found it. This also strikes me as odd in =
that there aren't all that many possible tree sites in the area and yet =
the birds are obviously locally resident. I guess I have to keep =
looking, but Maggie nests are such large bundles of sticks it seems odd =
that it's proving so hard to find.

See youse-all, Anton.

Birding-Aus is on the Web at
www.shc.melb.catholic.edu.au/home/birding/index.html
To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message
"unsubscribe birding-aus" (no quotes, no Subject line)
to 


<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>
  • Magpies again, Tony Russell <=
Admin

The University of NSW School of Computer and Engineering takes no responsibility for the contents of this archive. It is purely a compilation of material sent by many people to the birding-aus mailing list. It has not been checked for accuracy nor its content verified in any way. If you wish to get material removed from the archive or have other queries about the archive e-mail Andrew Taylor at this address: andrewt@cse.unsw.EDU.AU