Posted by giveaway boy on June 11, 2000 at 11:13:12:
Uau! When I drove out to Colorado I noticed alot of changes in the local avian populations along the way. The most striking thing I noticed was the prevalance of the red-winged blackbird almost everywhere between Georgia and my new hometown of Broomfield. Those guys are lal over the place. Also, I was glad to see that in Colorado we have robins. I rarely saw them in Tampa. I remember once living with John Sexton and seeing about 3000 cardinals descend on our baskyard. This was like some sort of epiphany! anyway, my newest ecstatic experience was my discovery of the magpie. This is a handsome bird, quite striking, which appears in most part like a crow, but with a bold, unapologetic splash of white on his shoulder, under his wing and upon his flashy tail. In fact as I write this a magpie is speaking to me outside my window. These birds are so handsome I wish I could just follow one around all day and see just what they do, what their hobbies and interests consist of. I wonder if they are like crows since they seem to be shaped like them. Does anyone know if a magpie is a corvid? Corvids are birds in the order that contain crows and jays. Did you know that blue jays and crows are near cousins. Yes they are. A jay is sort of the clown version of crow. but they both carry similar medicine. anyway, i'll have to watch these magpies. i want to see if they do the same things as crows, like gathering shiny silvery things and lining their nests with them. like aluminum foil and gum wrappers and pieces of old mylar balloons. magpies might have their own idiosyncrasies. can you tell i'm in love? signing off........giveaway boy