Posted by Terry Toon on June 11, 2000 at 13:14:33:
In Reply to: MAGPIE MADNESS 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
Magpies...hmmm....
