The Magpie

The Magpie
The magpie likes to live in open landscape. She lives all over
Norway all the way up to the birchbelt. The magpie eats plants and
animals. You`ve probably seen her when she is hopping around on the
ground looking for food.This bird can also take starling chicks out of their nestboxes.
The magpie rarely kills her prey herself, because she is a
scavangerlike her relatives, the crow and the raven. On the picture
above she has killed aredwing. The magpie killed it in flight.

She rarely acts like a bird of prey but can do so
She killed the redwing by
sticking her claws through the skin and puncturing her lungs. When she had
done that she used her beak to strangle the redwing. The magpie ate the
breast before eating the rest of the bird. All of this happened in the peaceful street
«Kreklingen» in «Åsen» an October day in 2003. Look at the picture.

The magpie can be a thief
The magpie likes things that shine. Maybe she has taken something from you?
She takes things like jewellery, rings, watches and more.
The mapie builds nests in trees, bushes under roofs and so on. Where she
places her nest, down low or up high, is an old weather symbol for the rest
of the summer. She lays 6-8 eggs in April-May. The magpie broods her eggs
for 17-18 days. The magpie will brood a chicken egg if it is placed in her
nest. A lot of people have tried to and made her brood a chicken egg. The
magpie is here all year round. She is often a guest to bird-houses.

The Magpie av Svein Jan Hjelmeset er lisensiert under ein Creative Commons Namngjeving-Ikkje-kommersiell 4.0 internasjonal lisens.