One for sorrow, two for joy
The bold black-and-white brigand that is the muchmaligned magpie may not be as bad as it’s painted, suggests Ian Morton
Magpies are much maligned, but is this fair, asks Ian Morton
Magpies have a bad reputation —there’s no denying it. They’re widely condemned for predating smaller birds’ eggs and chicks, especially those of songbirds, yet, when the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) analysed 35 years of monitoring records, it was found that songbird populations were no different in areas where magpies abounded than in those where they were sparse.
The BTO concluded that increased numbers of magpies do not cause a population decline among songbirds, whose status is affected more by depleted food supplies and habitat change, but the magpie is officially under sentence in this country.
The magpie is one of the most expert, genteel and welldressed of thieves
The UK derogated from an ec Birds Directive that declared the eurasian magpie fully protected throughout europe and, under the Wildlife and Countryside act 1981, the bird can be killed in order to protect crops and livestock, preserve public health or conserve other wild birds. it is permissable to shoot magpies for site-specific control purposes and it’s legal to shoot out a nest, even when it’s in use, although it must be
checked in case it’s been occupied by another species—the domed construction is favoured by long-eared owls, for instance.
Even its enemies may confess a grudging admiration for a bird of such striking appearance, dashing style and highly intelligent response to circumstance. Its nidopalliumto-bodymass ratio is said to be similar to that of chimps, orangutans and even humans. ‘The magpie is one of the most expert, genteel and well-dressed of thieves,’ wrote 19thcentury Scottish gamekeeper and naturalist author Tom Speedy. ‘Few British birds possess such a rich glow of colour, the brilliancy of the plumage on the tail and wings being of metallic splendour, the bird being gay alike in nature and plumage.’
This from a pragmatist who observed that, if a nesting female magpie was killed, the male soon found another mate, affording extra opportunity. Mr Speedy often shot two female magpies off the same nest, he recorded, and described one instance in which he killed six off the same nest within seven days.
Like all keepers of the period, Mr Speedy observed heavy magpie depredation of pheasant and partridge eggs and young. ‘Nothing is more annoying to a keeper than when he knows of a pheasant’s nest, and on going his rounds takes a keek to see that she is sitting all right, but finds the nest empty. This I have frequently experienced… where these birds [magpies] are allowed to harbour, it must be a very closely concealed pheasant’s nest if it escapes their vigilance.’
The Speedy generation hit the magpie hard. The species was common and plentiful until the middle of the 19th century and popular with farmers because of its predation of insects and rodents. However, the development of game-rearing and shooting made it the bane of keepers’ lives. Numbers were severely reduced and only started to recover after the Second World War.
Between 1970 and 1990, the UK population tripled and is now described as stable, although the magpie’s regular appearance in gardens and at roadside kills creates the impression that it’s proliferating.
Magpie is said to come from Mag, the short form of Margaret, traditionally denoting innocence and meekness. However, in dialect, the word also meant to gossip or tease and was applied to women in general, with the bird’s call likened to idle feminine chatter. In Scotland, ‘magg’ meant theft. Pie derives from its twotone appearance, but may also be a contraction of its Latin name, Pica pica. In medieval times, it was called the magot-pie, a reference found in Macbeth (Act 3).
The bird shares with other corvids a liking for shiny objects: this attraction produced the tale of the French maidservant executed for the theft of a ring that was later found in a magpie’s nest, immortalised by Rossini.
Magpies have a longstanding place in the annals of superstition. Early Christians saw the bird as a symbol of dissipation and vanity, holding it cursed among the crow tribe for not wearing completely black plumage in mourning after the Crucifixion. Among devout Scots, it was considered so evil that each bird was believed to carry a drop of the Devil’s blood under its tongue. In Somerset, country folk carried an onion as protection against the influence of crows and magpies and tipped their hats in salute if they encountered them.
English people generally were prone to cross themselves and raise their hats upon seeing magpies, intoning as they did so: ‘Devil, Devil, I defy thee!’ Just in case, some sensible country folk still call out to every solitary magpie: ‘Hello, Jack—how’s your brother?’ or ‘Hello, Mr Magpie—how’s your wife today?’ Or even ‘Hello, Mr Magpie. How’s Mrs Magpie and all the other magpies?’
At one time, magpie was the derogatory name for an Anglican bishop. In France, evil priests were thought to be reincarnated as crows and evil nuns as magpies. Ten subspecies are spread worldwide and, among the Blackfoot Indians of North America, the magpie held shamanic qualities involved in the origins of the Buffalo Dance.
The bird fared well in the Far East, however. In China, it presaged joy and good fortune, its staccato voice a prelude to the arrival of good news and welcome guests. In Korea, too, the magpie was the bringer of good news and good people.
Here, a magpie has a typical territory of 12 acres, but, in some areas, up to 60% don’t breed for want of suitable nest sites, the unattached birds often forming sizeable flocks (I’ve counted 14 in one tree). With an average of six eggs laid, incubation takes 18–19 days, the male feeding the female on the nest. An intruder such as a grey squirrel will be vigorously and noisily attacked.
Parents pair for life, both feed the young, fledging takes up to 30 days and the brood is nurtured for four weeks after leaving the nest. The mortality rate among the young is high, a Sheffield study indicating that only 22% survive their first year. The average life expectancy is put at 3.7 years, but the oldest recorded bird died at the age of 21 years and eight months, having been ringed in Coventry in 1925 and shot in 1947.
Few British birds possess such a rich glow of colour, the brilliancy of the plumage on the tail and wings being of metallic splendour