Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
The percentage of magpies that swoop has been difficult to estimate but is less than 9%. [110] Almost all attacking birds (around 99%) are male, [111] [101] and they are generally known to attack pedestrians at around 50 m (160 ft) from their nest, and cyclists at around 100 m (330 ft). [112]
Magpies are birds of various species of the family Corvidae.Like other members of their family, they are widely considered to be intelligent creatures. The Eurasian magpie, for instance, is thought to rank among the world's most intelligent creatures, [1] [2] and is one of the few nonmammalian species able to recognize itself in a mirror test. [3]
Magpies harass or attack swamp harriers (pictured) far more than they do to any other bird species in New Zealand. [5] The birds can be agonistic. During the breeding season, while nestlings are defenceless for the first 2–3 weeks, the fathers will be very protective and swoop anything they perceive as a threat to their young.
Magpies are ubiquitous in urban areas all over Australia, and have become accustomed to people. A small percentage of birds become highly aggressive during breeding season from late August to early October, and will swoop and sometimes attack passers by. [41] These magpies may engage in an escalating series of behaviours to drive off intruders.
Magpie, magpie, I go by thee!" and to spit on the ground three times. [8] On occasion, jackdaws, crows and other Corvidae are associated with the rhyme, particularly in America where magpies are less common. [9] In eastern India, the erstwhile British colonial bastion, the common myna is the bird of association. [10]
Black-billed magpies are considered a pest by some because of their reputation for stealing smaller songbird eggs. Studies have shown, however, that eggs make up only a small proportion of what magpies feed on during the reproductive season, and that other songbird populations do not fare worse in the presence of magpies. [7]
Female in Melbourne. The female has a white throat and the male has a black throat. The magpie-lark is a small to medium size bird, reaching 25 to 30 cm (9.8 to 11.8 in) long when fully grown, or about the same size as a European common blackbird, and boldly pied in black and white; the weight range is 63.9 to 118 g (2.25 to 4.16 oz) for males, and 70 to 94.5 g (2.47 to 3.33 oz) for females. [15]
The pied currawong's binomial names were derived from the Latin strepera, meaning "noisy", and graculina for resembling a jackdaw. [10] It was first described by English ornithologist George Shaw in John White's 1790 book, Journal of a Voyage to New South Wales, as the "white-vented crow", with Latin name Corvus graculinus. [2]