The magpies were singing for their breakfast, despite the cold rainy weather

  • fizzle@quokk.au
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    11 days ago

    West Aus here.

    I think these cheeky buggers might be my favourite birds.

    They’re smart, playful, inquisitive, and have strong social groups.

    My preferred collective noun is a “mischief” of magpies, which is well earned.

    I adore their calls which most people call carolling. At some times of year they’re at it at different times overnight. Some people can’t stand it but I dont mind it.

    We’re about to come into nesting season. My kids and I help the ones in our street with nesting material. Coir matting (hair from coconut husk) is highly prized. This grants us freedom of movement anywhere on our street. Other unsuspecting passers by are not so lucky and in rare cases can get a nasty scratch from an overzealous defender.

    • Ada@lemmy.blahaj.zoneOP
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      11 days ago

      We call ours the magpie mafia, because they come and strongarm us every morning. Hoppy (the magpie in this photo) will ignore the meal worms we throw out, and will just yell at us until we cough up cake, or bread. If we ignore him and leave him to the meal worms, he just comes back later and yells at us again. He has started coming in to the house to really make sure we understand the gravity of the situation.

  • BlueSquid0741@lemmy.sdf.org
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    11 days ago

    I throw the kids leftover toast or for them, they land next to it, sing a song and then eat. It’s like they’re giving me a thankyou song before eating.