crow city | crow family | carrion & hooded crow | rook | jackdaw | magpie | jay | chough | raven
Living at the turn of the twenty-first century, we pride ourselves on being a modern mechanised culture, far removed in knowledge and sensibility from our Medieval forbears. Yet how many of us, upon espying a single magpie, seek the sight of a second bird, hoping to draw upon ourselves the associated joy in place of sorrow?
I cross the magpie
The magpie crosses me
Bad luck to the magpie
And good luck to me
And the magpie is unmistakable with its black and white colour; wings and tail that flutter in the wind; its singular chattering call. It is found throughout Britain (with the exception of northwest Scotland), having colonized Ireland only in the seventeenth century.
The afforestation of Scotland suits the magpie, since it can live happily in conifer plantations, yet favouring clumps of shrubs or single trees in rural areas. The magpie also finds nesting sites on the steep slopes above sea cliffs. The birds mostly prefer to live locally to their birthplace.
Magpies probably form pairs at the spring gathering. The nests are solitary rather than collected in colonies, although they will roost communally outside of the breeding season. They feed on the ground far more so than do jays, eating a wide range of invertebrates, grain, fruit, acorns, chestnuts, small mammals and small birds and their eggs. They also store food, but are less dependent on their stores than the jay.