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Dieren en planten

Birds   Crows   Eurasian Jackdaw   Magpie   Carrion crow   Bird Protection   Warblers   
  • Dut: Ekster
  • Eng: Magpie
  • Fre: Pie bavarde
  • Ger: Elster
  • Ital: Gazza
  • Lat: Pica pica
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Magpie, Jeroen Reneerkens (jeroenreneerkens@hetnet.nl

Magpie

Magpies have the reputation for eating lots of eggs and young birds. Although they do like eggs, this is only a small part of their diet. Nor is the number of songbirds declining due to them. Magpies like large insects the most, followed by berries and seeds. They build their nests high up in trees early in spring. The nest is an ingenious construction made from branches. The nests have a roof, making it much taller than a crow's nest.

  • The shinier the better
    Magpie, foto fitis, adriaan dijksen

    Magpies are known for stealing silver spoons and shiny jewelry. They don't do it for the value. They are just very curious birds. Anything that looks 'different' is thoroughly examined and sometimes buried under leaves for future use.

  • Did you know that...
    Magpie, foto fitis, adriaan dijksen

    ... magpies are capable of recoginizing their mirror-image? German scientists discovered this in 2008. Up till then, only people, apes, elephants and dolphins were known to possess this gift.