Australian Magpies - Everything you never knew

Do you communicate with family members through song? Have you ever eaten earthworms for sustenance? Are you tempted to plunge upon your enemies from great heights? Then you might have something in common with the Australian magpie. These flying Oreos are known for their complex harmonies, but they're smart cookies too, able to recognize over a hundred different human faces. In this video, we're going to learn a little bit about these creatures and In a grand old British tradition of unimaginative names for exotic animals, the bird was named the magpie after its European namesake. Despite its similar coloring, it has no relation to the Eurasian species. Their actual closest relatives are two fellow Australian birds, the Currawong, a highly underrated bird in my opinion, and the Butcherbird, the less said about youth, the better. Magpies are also often mistaken from a distance with these guys, magpie larks, or as they're otherwise known, peewees. There were once thought to be three separate species of magpie, but now they're considered to be just one with nine subspecies. You don't need to know all of them, but there is a distinction between the northern black-backed magpies, which are smaller, and the southern white-backed ones, who are larger. Magpies are a tastefully thick bird at around 40 centimeters long on average, with wingspans up to 85 centimeters. Their most distinctive feature is of course their striking black and white plumage. Youngsters tend to have more grey mixed in with their feathers. This one's a female, and how do I know that? What gives it away is the nape. It's white in males, and grey in females. Maggies have a lifespan of around 25 years, although some have been reported to live up to 30 years of age, just long enough to ponder what you're actually doing with your life. The Aussie magpie has managed to conquer just about every corner of the Australian continent, except for the top end, the big old deserts, and this specific area of Tasmania. What actually goes on here? It's just one of life's mysteries. The magpie's most favorite habitat type are open grasslands dotted with tall trees. They use the trees for nesting and the grasslands for grazing on bugs. Humans, cheeky little buggers, have unwittingly created the perfect magpie habitats by building parks and golf courses with these exact conditions. Who's controlling who? The English bird fancier John Gould is quoted as saying, To describe the note of this bird is beyond the power of my pen. I'm sure he sounded like that. It's hard to argue with Mr Gould. Magpies have a complex song which can vary as much as four octaves in pitch. In Latin, the magpie's biological name, Gymnorhina tibisen, literally means bare-nosed flute player. The magpie can mimic over 30 species of birds, as well as other animal calls and even human sounds like this. Maggies have a number of different calls for different purposes. You might think this one is a lovely morning song, but it's actually a territorial claim meant for other magpies. Basically, this is our turf. Piss off. This one means danger. And if you're a parent, you already know what this one means. Magpies are omnivorous. Their diet is perfectly balanced and contains all the main food groups. Insects, small lizards, mice, nuts and seeds, and even other bird eggs. Magpies will stride along the ground searching for insects. A behavior you'll notice is that they cock their heads to the side before striking. This is because they can hear the sound of worms under the ground. They will also sometimes venture into open houses to beg for food. Now, it's not recommended to feed wild magpies, much like with the darrows who hang around at the local train station. If they become accustomed to human handouts and the handouts stop, they can become aggressive. Although, between you and me, I do like to give them a cheeky feed now and again. Maggies live in groups of up to 24 birds. And get this, the collective noun for magpies is tidings. Magpies are highly territorial birds. They reside all year round in territories that are viciously defended by all group members. As humans, we may not be able to see it, but there are invisible borders which the birds patrol. They also take hygiene very seriously and will often be found puffing up their feathers and using their beaks to remove parasites. Another behavior that I noticed was that they wipe their beaks repeatedly on branches and fence posts. It's generally accepted that this is a way of cleaning their beaks, but it could also be a way of sharpening them too. Magpies can recognize up to 100 unique human faces. They will know all the faces of the people who live in their local territory. And they can remember faces up to 5 years. Because of this, treating magpies with respect will earn you their friendship. Equally though, if you treat them with disrespect, they will hold a grudge against you and be more likely to swoop you. Speaking of which... Interestingly, magpies don't actually swoop that much. Anticlimactic, I know. It's only the males that will swoop during the breeding season, and only 11% of them do it. And there are worse things than being swooped by magpies. Like syphilis. Let's talk about magpie sex. Here's a line that I often use to entice women into the bedroom, with varying degrees of success. Magpies generally mate for life. If a male dies while there are chicks in the nest, the female will find a new mate. Her new partner will protect the babies, even though he's not genetically related to them. Female magpies lay 3-5 eggs, bluish green in color. It generally takes 20 days for the eggs to hatch. The chicks are fed by their mother and are able to fly in 4 weeks. But unfortunately, many don't make it this far, and are killed by weather conditions, predators, and human activity. For the next 2 years, the young magpies are taken under the wing of their mother. She'll provide for and nurture the juveniles, until they're eventually forced by their parents to leave home. They'll then join a group of up to 50 other single magpies, essentially a magpie share house. They'll stay here until they can gain a place in a new territory as an adult breeding bird. I had a lot of fun making this video. I spent over a month filming magpies in different areas, and I got to know my local magpies pretty well. It was just interesting observing the behaviors that I'd read about, and some that I'd never seen before. There's a lot to admire about magpies. They're curious, intelligent, and charismatic. It's not hard to see why they've had such a cultural impact in this country. That's all for this video. But before I go, I'm going to leave you with some fun facts.