OUR MIDWEEK MEDITATION: MAGPIES
The stranger in our midst
And Quardle oodle ardle wardle doodle
The magpies said. Dennis Glover.
For the six years we’ve lived at our property, we’ve shared it with a colony of magpies, or perhaps, more correctly, they’ve shared it with us.
At least I thought it was a colony, until I thought I should find out the correct collective noun – and there seem to be a few on offer: congregation, tiding, tittering, gulp, charm or murder; although I’ve always thought it was a murder of crows. I’ve decided congregation is by far the most descriptive noun, since their singing sounds remarkably like a bird version of a church choir.
Their carolling is the first lovely noise we hear in the morning, and in the evening they gather interestedly to watch the preparation of the horse feed, and to ‘help’ the horses eat. There’s about 20 in our particular congregation, and they sing, squabble, eat and play very much like humans. It’s always been a harmonious relationship between the birds and people around here – that is until last year, when for the first time ever, an aggressive magpie somehow found his way into the pack.
Suddenly, I found myself being viciously swooped, and generally forgetting to arm myself with an ice-cream carton or hat, or even sunglasses on my head, I would find myself wearing a grubby feed bucket, or even ducking under a horse to get out of the way. I shouted at him, scolded him, explained to him that it was not how our magpies behaved, but he was having none of it, and kept up the aggression for what seemed like months. It’s usually the males that are the aggressors, and you can tell the males from the females by the fact that they have vivid white plumage on their necks, as opposed to the softer grey neck plumage of the females.
Magpies are well known as collectors of anything that catches their beady eyes.
A friend of mine once rescued a baby female Magpie who grew up to be a fully-fledged family member. She could mimic the sheepdogs perfectly, and wasn’t above trying to round up the sheep herself. She also, if anyone was repairing anything, would helpfully arrive bearing twigs, or string or bark for you – her head cocked on one side, as if to say here you are, just for you!
Celtic folklore suggests that when two or more magpies fly into your life good fortune is on its way – although it doesn’t mention anything about one grumpy male unfortunately. They’re certainly clever, that’s for sure, surprising ornithologists with their adaptability to even a poisonous intruder, such as the introduced cane toad. It took the magpies of Australia only a few generations to learn to flip the toads over and attack their soft and non-venomous stomachs – showing a highly-social learned behaviour skill.
Magpies are highly valued for their symbolism as well – their vocal songs a joyous creative expression of themselves that we could well emulate. On the plus side they’re seen as communicative, social, extroverted and cheerful, their negative symbolic attributes include gossiping, deception, vanity, wilfulness and opportunism.
All that for one little bird! Curiously, and quite frequently, the East and West have different symbolic takes on animals, and that’s also true with the Magpie, which for the Chinese is considered a ‘Bird of Joy’ signifying good fortune, but in the West, in stricter Christian times, it was seen as a manifestation of the Devil himself.
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12 Responses to this article
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KayO'Sullivan September 12, 2012
Gosh, you know you’re from Melbourne when you see a headline about magpies and you think the story is about Collingwood.
And I don’t even barrack for them. -
Diana September 12, 2012
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.
Eight for heaven,
NIne for hell
And ten for the Devil’s very own sell.-
Pauline B September 13, 2012
How lovely – the singing of magpies signifies spring coming and warmer weather on the way here in the Blue Mountains. I was interested when I read the part of the article which said they have been associated with the “devil” and wondered why that comment seemed to ring a distant bell – and then when I read the rhyme it came back to me, obviously from childhood!
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Marnie September 12, 2012
We are in country Victoria and have been recently treated to the musical repertoire of a local insomniac magpie. For over a week it sang out periodically all night long. My husband theorised that, being spring, it was probably a lovesick minstrel serenading the object of his affection. Whatever it was, it made sleepless nights much less lonely. Usually the only bird songs I hear during the night are the mournful notes of the frogmouth. The kookas at 4.30am would certainly put a smile on my dial.
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Ro. Watson September 12, 2012
I have a happy relationship with magpies in my suburb. I talk to them eg hello maggie and make that sound that skippy used to make,which most animals respond to. Lately I have noticed in this suburb, more solitary magpies~ I think it may be nesting time…apparently each group of magpies have their own call and response, and it is only male magpies which swoop….I love the sounds of magpies in the predawn,carolling…..
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Louisa September 12, 2012
This column is fast becoming my favourite part of hoopla. It always gives me something nice to think about and imagine.
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Candida September 12, 2012
Thank you Louisa, I’m loving writing the column…
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Manuel September 12, 2012
One of the most fascinating natural events I’ve seen was an aerial magpie fight… two couples fighting in the sky, with amazing speed and ferocity. It was very mighty… As far as I can tell, there were no casualties.
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Candida September 12, 2012
What lovely feedback on my Magpie Meditation – thank you everybody…
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Rhoda September 12, 2012
They come at nestling time here to scrounge some nibblies and the nestlings come too – fresh out of the nest They kick up an awful stink when they see food. Demand their mothers feed them. And so funny to see them gobble it down and immediately recommence their squawking.
We’ve had visitors at nesting time and they are always divebombed if they set foot out the door. We permanent residents are left alone.
It’s always a joy to see them back. The butchers though will sing for their supper. I much prefer to listen to them.
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sue bell September 14, 2012
here in the Melbourne suburbs they sing all night, any hour of the night you can hear their fantastic singing. You can never feel lonely with magpies singing. A friend feeds 30 or so magpies every day, the magpies keep watch and the moment they see movement in the house they fly into the garden. Then it starts, all the look at me, look at me antics, knocking on the glass doors, hanging upside down from the vines, taking food out of her hand. I think she spends more a week on meat for the maggies than for herself and husband. They do tricks for her, they dance and strut and steal from each other, they chase the neighbours cat away. She has watched them for years and seen magpie families grow, young ones leave and set out on adventures of their own, often returning with their own families to the old home. They are wonderful creatures. If you never hurt them they will not hurt you or your family.
