Magpies, black and white?

Black and white! Really? How about black and white plus some green and blue thrown in.

With its noisy chattering, black-and-white plumage and long tail, there is nothing else quite like the magpie in the UK. When seen close-up its black plumage takes on an altogether more colourful hue with a purplish-blue iridescent sheen to the wing feathers, and a green gloss to the tail. Magpies seem to be jacks of all trades - scavengers, predators and pest-destroyers, their challenging, almost arrogant attitude has won them few friends. Non-breeding birds will gather together in flocks.

Magpies are birds of the Corvidae (crow) family, including the black and white Eurasian Magpie, which is widely considered one of the most intelligent animals in the world, and the only non-mammal species able to recognize itself in a mirror, something even Dracula couldn't do!

Magpies of the genus Pica (our species) are generally found in temperate regions of Europe, Asia and western North America, with populations also present in Tibet and high elevation areas of India, i.e.  and Pakistan. Magpies of the genus Cyanopica are found in East Asia and also the Iberian peninsula. Birds called magpies but not actually related may be found in Australia.

So the Magpie along with many other creatures that inhabit our planet and live by scavenging and preying on the young, sick and vulnerable, are not the most popular but that is the natural world.

Because of its so obviously easy identification it has been written about for centuries, think of Mozarts' opera, 'The thieving magpie' or the nursery rhyme:-

One for sorrow,
Two for joy,
Three for a girl,
Four for a boy,
Five for silver,
Six for gold,
Seven for a secret,
Never to be told.

Depicting ones fortune depending on the number seen together.

It's nice to see a Black-necked Grebe back on Conoco Pool at Cliffe, (the one by the car-park). Less than 130 are recorded in the UK each year. Almost entirely on large water bodies such as reservoirs etc in the South, South-east and South-west.

Thanks to Ruby Merriman, Rob Budgen, David Saunders and RSPB images for the photographs.