Magpies are smart birds. They pay a great deal of attention to the “goings on” in their neighborhood. In many ways, they establish the rules of play for most other local critters.
I have seven or eight magpies
regularly visiting my birdfeeder. When
they come in (usually as a full parliament), all the other birds clear
out. All except a northern flicker that
rather hangs with them.
The northern flicker is,
apparently, an honorary parliament member.
Over the years, the magpies
have dive-bombed and tormented my various cats.
All of my cats soon learned to avoid them. I have watched the magpies pester deer on
many occasions.
Some years ago, friends of mine
in Helena had a pair of magpies nest within an apple tree in their yard. Magpies build a huge nest—a kind ball or
wicker basket made of sticks. The nests
are quite conspicuous, but jealously guarded by the birds. The
pair of nesting birds were strangely tolerant of my friends, Gary and Sarah,
and even their small dogs. But they
raised holy hell with the neighbor’s dog and cat. Sometimes they pestered the neighbors
themselves.
The birds tag-teamed the
dog. While one captured the dog’s
attention in the front, the other would peck at the dog’s rump. After enough wheeling round and round and
fruitlessly chasing about, the dog would trot off to hide.
The birds held the neighbor’s
cat in particular contempt. They would
not allow the cat anywhere near the nesting tree. They devised a unique way of irritating the
cat. They swooped down and pooped on the
cat whenever it came near.
Crude, but effective.
— Mitchell Hegman
PHOTO: Wikipedia
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