Five Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Magpies
1. Magpies are more than black and white.
Black-billed Magpies are medium-sized perching birds with extremely long tails. Black feathers cover their heads, breasts and backs. They have white feathers at the base of their wings, on their bellies and on their upper and lower outer-wings. The rest of their wings and their long tails are iridescent blue-green — which often appears black in low light of Calgary winters.
2. Owls depend on Magpies
In the spring, males and female magpies work together to build large, dome shaped, stick nests with entrances on both sides. These enormous structures are usually built in the branches of deciduous trees and can be up to three feet across.
Inside, the cup-shaped base of a magpie nest is lined with weeds, rootlets, hair and grass bound together by mud or manure. Magpie nests are so well made that they can last for several years and are often used by owls — a species that takes nests from other birds instead of building its own.
3. Noise is a survival strategy.
Three to four weeks after hatching, young magpies leave their nests and hook up with two to eight other nearby broods. This survival strategy offers the age old benefit of safety in numbers. It also allows young birds to work together and use noise to ward off cats and other potential predators.
Unfortunately, the timing of this stage of their lives – typically mid-July – couldn’t be worse for their human neighbours, many of whom are trying to enjoy the best part of summer by sleeping with their bedroom windows open.
4. Magpies can smell.
Magpies are unusually smart birds. They flip items over to find the insects hiding beneath. They follow predators and humans in search of leftovers and garbage. They will even steal food from squirrels and other birds.
Magpies also have a sense of smell, a trait that is very unusual in the bird world. This sense helps them locate carrion and hidden food sources. Unfortunately for humans, their sense of smell also attracts magpies to large commercial garbage bins stored next to restaurants, apartments and condominiums.
5. Magpies are like dogs.
Like dogs, the natural history of magpies is closely tied to the evolution of humankind. Black-billed Magpies traditionally followed Native Americans and lived off the refuse of their bison hunts. Now they frequent farms, ranches and urban areas, such as Calgary, where food, water and improperly secured garbage cans are never far away
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Brent Johner has been writing about urban wildlife since 1998. Many of the articles here first appeared in the Calgary Herald, Calgary Gardening magazine or on Talk About Wildlife. Brent has also done dozens of radio, television, newspaper and magazine interviews on the subject of urban wildlife.