Things you need to know about MAGPIES!

This video covers everything you could ever want or need to know about Magpies. Including what magpies eat, where magpies live, how long magpies live and other magpie facts.
Here is the script from the video:
The Eurasian magpie is an unmistakable bird belonging to the crow family. From a distance they look to be white and black but on close inspection their darker feathers glimmer with iridescent blue and green. Magpies grow to weigh from 180 to 270 grams and have a wingspan of 52 to 62 centimeters. They also have a very long tail compared to their bodies that when spread is shaped like a diamond.
There are currently around 600,000 pairs of magpies in the UK and they have a large distribution across all of Europe, and are also found in Asia and in some northern parts of Africa.
Magpies are extremely intelligent, perhaps the most intelligent bird on the planet and use this superior knowledge to source a wide range of foods. They will eat everything from nuts, seeds and grains, to small birds, reptiles, insects, eggs, small mammals and various carrion. What they cannot eat straight away they sometimes cache away for eating later.
Magpies can start breeding at one year of age but they often wait until their second year and spend the first year roaming in small flocks of other young birds. When they do pair up, they will stay with the same mate for life and remain together throughout as a couple throughout the year. Nesting starts in April when the pair build a dome shaped nest high of the ground, often in the fork of a tree. This nest is made of twigs and cemented together with mud. Once the nest is completely built the female will lay between 3 and 6 green eggs speckled with brown. These eggs take around 21 days to hatch and then the chicks take a further 27 days to fledge. A lot of the chicks that hatch, do not survive to fledgling with roughly one out of every 3, dying from starvation. Once the chicks have fledges, they stay with their parents as a family group for several more weeks whilst they learn how to find their own food. A magpies survival rate through the first year can be as low as 22% but once a bird makes It through this first 12 months, it has an average life expectancy of around 3 and a half years. However, there has been a record of a wild magpie surviving to more than 21 years and this bird didn’t die of natural causes but was shot so could have lived for even longer.
As mentioned earlier, Magpies are extremely intelligent. They have been shown to use tools, to understand basic mathematics, and are the only bird to have shown to have self recognition. Some research suggests their intelligence may be on par with that of the great apes and some scientists believe they are capable of both grief and imagination!
One for sorrow, 2 for joy, 3 for a girl and four for a boy. Magpies are the subject of lots of superstitions but that short poem is the beginning of probably the most famous one. It is a long list of predictions that will happen if you see specific numbers of magpies. And despite it changing slightly throughout the centuries, seeing one magpie alone has always been a sign of bad luck. But don’t worry, if you see one magpie, there are several things you can try to combat the bad luck, including spitting over your shoulder three times, saying “good morning mister magpie. How is your lady wife today” and flapping your arms to imitate a second magpie. I haven’t tried any of these but if you do, let me know how it affects your luck.
#Magpie #birdwatching #britishwildlife

Some of the footage used in this video was obtained via creative commons licences. The originals and their licences can be found at:

Some of the images used in this video were obtained using creative common licences:
The image used in the thumbnail is: "645 - BLACK-BILLED MAGPIE (6-24-2016) glenn highway, alaska -04" by Sloalan is marked with CC0 1.0

[katherinedohnalek]

I have a good friend that has an animal sanctuary. She gets lots of animals and many birds every spring but she once got a baby magpie come in. She used to carry this baby magpie in her hoodie, wearing the hoodie backwards so the hood was at the front. She was always talking to him and he always talked back. They are great mimics and can make all kinds of sounds. They were always together except at night when she put him in a safe place to sleep. This little magpie was incredibly smart, even as a youngster. My friend and this magpie were inseparable and there was clearly a great bond and much love between them. When he grew up to be an adult, strong and healthy she knew the time had come to let him have his freedom. She knew when that time came when he started watching other magpies flying about in the garden. She let him fly but he kept coming back. She kept taking him back but also let him have access to the garden. One day he left and did not come back. Even though this was a success story for a rehabilitator, she was completely crushed. She missed him horribly. About a month later he showed up with a lady magpie. He introduced his new wife then they left. Soon after they had baby magpies and the whole family would come to visit her. This happened a few ago and he continues to visit her regularly.

[MrDoyle]

While in Baghdad, Iraq these birds impressed me profoundly. We had one stop us on the street once and when we tried to walk around it the bird met our every step with loud screeches and physical interference to our attempts to ignore it. Finally my friend said, “Let me see your bottle of water”. I handed it to him and he started to remove the cap and the bird went screwy. It was jumping and squawking like it was nuts. Patrick bent over and fed the water to the thirsty bird. From high on its perch atop a pole it had spotted us with me holding that water bottle and flew down at us interrupting our advance in order to persuade us to give it some water. It was uncanny. I will never forget that as long as I live.

[sherrie]

I was privileged to share my home with a magpie for 10 plus years. Totally imprinted. Not by me.
She talked as well as our African Grey.
In two little girls voices. I can still hear
"Mommie come here !!
Right NOW" LoL
She got into everything.
Had a stash of "stuff"
under the potpourri in a Roseville pottery dish.
At least once a week she would throw the potpourri everywhere.
Line up all her treasure's and check them out. Then put them back. Put a couple of pieces of the potpourri over and fly off. Leaving me to clean up the mess.
She was a total joy.

[sepnyte]

I had a pair of magpies nesting in a tree outside where I used to live. One of them is easy to recognize because it's missing a part of its foot. I called it Stumpy and it's partner I called Crash. I would often lay out food for them when they had chicks and during winter and if I was late on some days with food, they'd come knocking on my window, it got to the point where they'd take food out of my hand or respond if I whistled for them. One year, they only had one chick and one morning, Crash came tapping at my widow but didn't want any food. Crash kept flying to a certain place in the garden, where Stumpy was sitting and back again so I went to investigate and found one of the chicks, unfortunatly, dead. I took the chick and went to bury it in a secluded spot and the entire time, while I was carrying the chick and digging the hole to bury it, they sat next to the dead chick. After I had buried it, they would sometimes sit by the grave or bring little pebbles or tiny twigs or even leave bits of food I gave them. It was very unusual but it was clear they were feeling a very certain way about their loss.

I had to move this year and the landlord, a lovely old lady who loves birds, promised she would keep feeding them. I moved about 10 minutes away and about a week after I moved, I woke up to a loud bang outside on my porch. I looked outside my window and there they were, Stumpy and Crash, chattering away like there was no tomorrow amongs a broken pot of growing strawberries. Either they accidentally or intentionally found me but I was still so happy to see them. They come by from time to time even now.

[JesusFriedChrist]

There’s a family of magpies at my local park. I think it’s a bunch of first years and some parents. I saw that one of them that died about a month ago, and the whole family was mourning its death in a kind of ritual. They are most definitely very intelligent. As I wrote this at the same park, I watched them not five minutes ago play around with a rabbit, pestering it and chasing it around for a time. Then they got bored and went to looking for food, and the rabbit came back and they’re all foraging through the grass together. Nature truly is a marvel.

[jillbrown]

Many yrs ago, due 2 take final Nursing exam, in basement of old Nurses Home we kept bikes.
Magpie trapped btwn bikes so gently spoke/held him, , opened window + released him. Magpie stood, about 4 minutes, looking @ me up + down, then flew off! Later, I sat exam + Thank GOD I PASSED exam, Magpies r my favourite birds!! Jill ✅

[LX]

On may 18, when returning from work, I saw a single magpie on the side of the road, was starving, I did not salute him but I opened my palms and he jumped on them, I took him home, now is on my shoulder picking my earlobe. Please add to the list:
1. They are capable of love and affection!
2. They know their name
3. They will protect your chair if you have guests (they will swoosh and hit them)
4. They shit allot, much more if they are afraid, (I call it panik mode).
5. They don't shit on your head (like seen in a video involving the son of a celebrity)
6. They are lot smaller than it seems (you can see it after they take a bath)
7. If they do something bad and you scold them, it will retreat somewhere and start arguing with themselves.
8. If you leave the house, they will fly away to a high place then follow you, if you leave with the car, you can find them waiting on the highest place near your home when you return.

[magnificentmuttley]

A year ago, my wife and I helped a young fledgling magpie that was on the footpath opposite our house. I could see two other magpies with it but the one in question had lots of downy feathers and appeared injured, at least, unable to take flight. We were concerned in could easily fall prey to any of several cats that patrol our area, so we brought it back to our house and called an animal/bird sanctuary. All during this time, one of the other magpies perched on electrical wires behind our house, observing everything. In the end, we took the young magpie to a large bush in our garden and after climbing a ladder with it in hand, we were able to get it on top of the foliage. We didn’t see it fly away but we checked the bush later and found no sign of it or the other magpie that had been watching us. Now a year later, a solitary magpie comes to the cherry tree in our garden. I am often sitting outside and it comes very close, not frightened or disturbed if I get up to walk closer. I spoke to it, as I had when reassuring the other fledgling a year ago and on two occasions it came onto the ground and hopped a little closer. It flies off if I get too close but I am convinced this is ‘our’ young magpie we helped a year ago.

[Gigi-yxmk]

My Dad loved nature & birds, the day he died a Magpie flew around me constantly, I was outside making calls about my Dads passing, I was watching it, smiling x I’d always thought they were striking looking birds but never been near one. The next day one perched very close to me, I felt it knew I knew that was a hello from my Dad ♥️. It still happens that was 11 yrs ago.

[FIONAful]

I had a Crow I rescued as a baby nestling who had been taken by a Hawk & dropped apparently, according to the witnesses who brought him to me. He had a badly ravaged wing and I didnt think he would survive but I got plenty of fluids & protein into him & nursed him through it all, even taught him to fly! and Nev chose to return & live with me for the next 3yrs despite our several attempts at releasing him back into the local population.
He was an extremely intelligent & affectionate creature & I grew to love him very much . I adored his quirky character, his love of water and bathing constantly, they are very misundersood & maligned birds people dont give them enough credit, they are fussy & clean & even dunk their food in water if they can, he shared his food also with his friends who would visit him, he would take pieces of meat or nuts & fruits out of his bowls up on his stand, would fly to the edge of the balcony and drop them over the side for the others to swoop down and retrieve. He has emptied his bowls numerous times doing that and the local Crows & pigeons still visit.
I miss him very much still 4 years on.
He lived indoors with me and yes his pooping was a constant problem, ...they are not to be considered as pets, especially as babies they poop a lot! ...my home was draped in old sheets, towels and curtains for 2yrs until he finally adapted to using the outside parrot stand I bought him for on my balcony.
I realised he poops when he eats & drinks so I bought a big set up where he could eat and poop into a tray I lined. He would climb up the ladders to the very top and sit there with his food bowls beside him, watching down over the gardens of the houses beside us & the town below, while his Crow friends would come perch on the nearby rooftops and visit & caw with him.
He was very territorial and never flew farther than where he could see the balcony from.
His wing was not strong and he needed to fly from a height, once grounded he could not lift off to any great height alone...instead he ran around with my two dogs & thought he was a dog im sure! He had no fear of them ever, & would run at them, hiss or yell at them, firmly putting them in their place if they tried to rough play or took his toys, we were a very happy family.
I lost him in our 3rd year together when he was a big glossy beauty & loving his life. He flew down one 4.30 am morning as per our usual routine to see off my partner for work. I would let him exercise with the dogs and then place him up on a high wall from where he could lift himself to fly amongst the low trees there below my balcony until he would caw loudly for me to come get him.
He never called for me that morning & we never saw him again. A short while later just after 5am a neighbour of ours, who was pretty obsessed with Nev and with whom id had a previous incident, knocked on my door telling me some wild tale about seeing Nev on a road he would never be able to get to...this person was later on the same day admitted into a mental health unit, having given us different rambling stories, so I believe they did something to Nev that morning & in their intoxicated confusion decided to come tell me they saw him far away so i would think he just flew off.
Very sad 😔 I have wonderful videos & pics of him on my youtube channel here if anybody would like to see Nev as a baby.

[keshatton]

in around 1980 when living in the country around Glastonbury we came across a featherless bird on the side of the road. We took it home and i squashed up worms which we fed to him with tweezers. He survived the first night and got bigger and bigger and eventually once he developed feathers we could tell he was a magpie. He out grew his box so we made a run, which he out grew. Eventually i realised he needed to fly so we h let him go free but he stayed with us. He would fly away but come back and settle on my shoulder, He ate anything and everything. Maggot as we called him was very territorial and attacked anyone who came through the gate. After 6 months or so we released him on top of the mendips in the forest by the TV mast. We went back a week later and we were in a clearing. Maggot came flying down and landed on my shoulder just like he always did. He looked very happy. I often think of how many little maggots he was a dad too. Beautiful bird, full of character

[idaornstein]

I love magpies. I love the way they call. Beautiful, clever birds.

[janclark]

I love magpies! It started when I was a child (72 now) and my brothers brought one back from the woods which had fallen from the nest, he used to talk and follow my mother around and call her Betty, he would peck our toes so we would hurry up and put our socks and shoes on for school, he would go out the garden and come in when he wanted, he lived with us for years one day he went off and never came home, we were told he had found a mate and got married. Lovely memories 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

[ritakonig]

I raised one that my dog rescued as it fell out of a nest. It ate with the dog from its bowl and picked out all the best tidbits. It rode on the back of my dog. It greeted me after school and it went to bed by itself in a makeshift open basket as a cage. I loved him or her until one day there was another magpie on the other side of the fence. They cackled to each other and one day they took off together, never to be seen again. I will never forget my clever little friend. Suffice to say that I love these birds. 😊❤😊

[deletebilderberg]

Super-smart, super funny birds. Watching the youngsters play and chat to each other is a delight.

[eddieboy]

I’m a 65 year old man in central Scotland. I never saw a magpie until my 20’s. Now, I see them every day. Must have discovered the greatness of Scotland eventually. Great vid. Subbed.

[penhullwolf]

I still salute the first Magpie I see every day. Something my Grandad taught me to do when I was a kid.

[eeveum]

I have befriended the local magpie couple in my garden, every morning I put out two pecans on my windowsill, I wait a couple of minutes, and they come to collect them. I close the blinds slightly so they don't get too worried about me, but I can watch them really up close, they are just incredibly beautiful! And so smart, it only took a couple of mornings before they started anticipating the nuts being there for them every day. The couple are very easy to spot because the male has a 'dropped' wing that doesn't fold in properly, he does very well though and it doesn't seem to worry him.

[blixten]

I have always loved magpies! They add so much to the Swedish winter landscape. Their colouring is lovely. In Sweden, having a magpie-nest on your farm brings good luck, and I always hope they'll build their enormous, messy nests in one of my trees: once they start, they just build onto the old nest, and you get a lovely piece of post-modern architecture!

[wernerschulte]

Thank you for this video and thank you for writing the text. As a german guy it is difficult to follow the spoken words, especially when music is in the background (which wasn´t too bad). We found a little magpie under our tree four weeks ago. We took it in our house and cared for it. The intelligence was just stunning. The little bird grew fast, learned to fly and - sad to say - left us after three weeks. The relatives monitored every movement of their child and requested to have it back. But when we left it alone in the garden, they did not come to feed. So we continued feeding it and now it is back with its family, sometimes greeting us from a tree. We are happy about that but we miss it. It was such a sweet baby. The nest in our tree is still there and we hope it will come back making some new little maggies.