Baby Magpie learns to fly - sort of
Australian Magpie (juvenile)
Our resident family of Australian Magpies has been busy feeding two babies in the nest over recent weeks. The mother bird has been bringing tasty meals to the young ones who put up a great begging performance if she is too slow about it.
Meanwhile the male patrols the territory, seeing off any intruders - like the Brown Falcon who came visiting recently. (Details of that incident will follow tomorrow.)
Australian Magpie (juvenile)
Last week one of the babies decided to test out his wings. He left the nest - not at all gracefully and very hesitatingly. It was all downhill and into the wind until he came to the pear tree in the orchard, where he decided to cling to a branch for all he was worth.
I was watching this all happen from the verandah where we were having a well earned cuppa. I raced inside for the camera. Over the next five minutes I was able to carefully creep right up to about three metres away without disturbing the little fellow - still clinging desperately to the branch where he landed.
Australian Magpie
I quickly retreated, but not before mother bird came investigating to see if I was behaving myself. Soon she was happy to resume looking for the next tasty morsel to feed junior.
Later I was watching from the house. The baby had moved to another tree. He decided the fly down to where the mother bird was searching for food. The flight was okay - it was the landing that undid him. He landed on his face. Some techniques obviously need a little practice.
Related Articles:
Australian Magpie
Blog Entries
October 3rd, 2008 at 5:43 pm
[…] Yesterday I heard the unmistakable call of a baby magpie calling from the tall eucalypt tree next to the driveway. Sure enough, there was a newly fledged baby magpie all covered in downy feathers and constantly begging to be fed. UPDATE: I have just written a new articles, with photos, of the latest baby magpie in our garden. To read it, click here. […]
October 3rd, 2008 at 6:14 pm
Landing is always the hard part
October 3rd, 2008 at 8:06 pm
Yeah - I know - that is usually the only part of flying I don’t like.
Oh - and the cramped seats. And having to line for the toilet. And the food. And not being able to sleep. And the on board entertainment (sic). Did I mention the landing?
The only landing I enjoyed was the one at Lukla in the Himalayas. Read about it here
http://www.trevorstravels.com/landing-at-lukla-airport-nepal/
October 4th, 2008 at 6:30 am
i have a young magpie in my backyard, unable to fly in arrived yesterday. his parent’s have been frequent dinner guests along with their other 2 offspring for about 2 years, fortunately i have never had one this young arrive on my door step. it runs around my backyard like an emu. the huge problem is that i have a dog and 3 cars. the cats are locked i at night and the dog is curious but isn’t really bothered by it. i phones a few experts and have received mixed responses. one said pout it in a box at night and release it at day the parent’s will look after it, the other said don’t touch it it will die if put in a box and the parent’s will protect it during the day from the cats. this morning i let the dog out for a wee, the parent’s instantly came down from tree to swoop the dog, the dog was not bothered and approached the baby for a sniff, it the parent’s are going to repeat this effort with the cats i am affraid they are going to lose their baby, i amn very stressed about it. i was thinking maybe l could put it over into the neighbors yard, they don’t have any pets and the parent’s will still find it there, any suggestions thanks karen
November 2nd, 2008 at 10:44 am
Hi, found a baby magpie. Would like to feed it, but what. Any suggestions would be great.
November 2nd, 2008 at 1:04 pm
Hi there Gail - welcome to my birding blog.
I have written another article about baby magpies here
http://www.trevorsbirding.com/baby-magpie/
If you read through the comments you will find many suggestions from my readers about how to care for them.
November 22nd, 2008 at 8:20 am
Hi, We’ve been feeding a family of magpies for over a year with cheese which they are addicted to, They feed the baby, we were worried as the baby seems to have no tail feathers is this normal?
November 22nd, 2008 at 10:13 am
Hi there Sandra - welcome to my blog about birds. Thank you for visiting and leaving a comment.
In my experience baby magpies (and many other species too) have little or very short tails. That’s why they have such poor navigation skills when they first leave the nest. It can be quite amusing to us observers - and very daunting for those L-plate flyers, no doubt. It would be like trying to fly a plane without a tail flap or tail rudders (is that what they are called??)