According to the RSPB both Magpies and Jackdaws are members of the Corvidae family of birds. Well, I’m not scientifically minded so that’s not really important to me. And I do know what type of bird is being talked of when the word Corvid is mentioned. But that’s all somewhat beside the point.
When I first knew that I was moving home I knew that I would miss the pair of magpies that I had been able to watch flying around the garden during the years that I lived in my old home. There were very few things that I was going to miss but those birds were one of them. So imagine my delight when I arrived here to see not two, but three, magpies in the garden. They are joined occasionally by a couple of jackdaws; another bird that I’d seen at my previous address. The garden here is surrounded by mature trees, although I don’t know what species they are, and it also has a bird table where smaller birds appreciate the food put out for them. At night we even have the odd urban fox foraging around the property; along with most of the neighbourhood cats.
My new abode is on the first floor of a two-storey building. From my windows I can see the roof just a few feet away, and the corvids love to fly onto it to scavenge among the tiles and gutters. I have a wonderful view of them, and I keep as still as a statue so that they won’t know I’m there. I can see them so clearly that I no longer need to use my binoculars to watch them.
From right around the world there is much mythology surrounding the magpie, and many of us know the old rhyme about them that we were taught as children. Many of us also know that we’re supposed to salute, or say good morning/evening to them if we only see one at a time. Superstition is a fascinating thing, and I suppose that I’m superstitious when it comes to those I learned in childhood.
But, I’m not at all superstitious when it comes to magpies. I love them; they’re my very favourite bird. Nor do I subscribe to the theory that they kill young birds by stealing eggs during the breeding season. While they are known to sometimes do this, the real loss of the smaller birds of the UK is now believed to be down to habitat loss and climate change, and not just predation.
Magpies are long-lived birds, so long may they continue to grace the garden and give me the pleasure of watching them.
Exclaves!
1 day ago
2 comments:
What a lovely post kithra. I love birds as well (just wrote a post on orange orb about birds in a dream, and Nick had an interesting post about finding dead birds) -- glad you're in your new place and you're back.
I didn't know those things about magpies!
Thanks, Regan. Yes I read those posts by Nick and yours on Orange Orb, and found them both very interesting. There's a great deal of mythology surrounding corvids, but magpies seem to be the subject of greater folklore than the others.
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