Australian Magpie "anting"or what?

["Penny Brockman" <>]

I remember seeing two magpies in my garden lying on the woodchip path in full sun, wings extended and bodies awkwardly on one side. Bills open and heads tilted. After a while they got up, closed wings and moved into the shade, presumably to cool down. This I believe helps control lice. 

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Penny Brockman

On Thu, 22 Oct 2020, at 11:32 PM, David Clark wrote:

I have often seen Magpies lying flat out on the ground.  On the occasions when my approach caused the Magpie to depart, I have checked the location and never once have I seen ants.

The common factor with all instances I have observed is full and bright sunshine.

Cheers

David

On Wed, Oct 21, 2020 at 9:57 PM Penny Brockman <> wrote:

Sunning?

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Penny Brockman

On Wed, 21 Oct 2020, at 5:28 PM, m("bigpond.com","marann671");" target="_blank"> wrote:

For years I’ve been watching magpies in Blackheath, regardless of the temperature, mild or red-hot, lying down in a sort of trance-like state. But they are alert. Someone somewhere mentioned that they are “anting”. Any published papers and evidence available on what they are actually doing?

 

Thanks

 

David Jackson

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