The Australian Magpie is one of my favourite birds.
 Strutting about, he looks you straight in the eye - or at least, sideways in the eye - and carols to his mate.
 In fact, he usually has more than one female with him.
 His glossy blackness, his pristine white parts, combine to give him an aura of beauty.
The melodious carolling of the Magpies in the morning is part of the pleasure of being in the countryside; however, they also sing in urban areas, and although any bird field guide will tell you they carol in the mornings, in fact they can be heard at any time of the day.
 I have often walked by my local riverbank in Adelaide, South Australia, in the afternoon and heard them carolling.
Breeding season can be risky for humans in their territory - they will dive-bomb passers-by, mainly in spring, though their breeding season can extend from July to February.
 The female lays 3-4 eggs, which are pale in colour, in a bowl-shaped nest.
The chicks remain in the nest for about a month, but still rely on the adults in the group for several more weeks.
 Their feathers are lighter in colour than the adults.
 Their small group of up to 24 individuals may only have one breeding pair, the dominant male and the dominant female.
The Magpie is quite a large bird, at about 40 cm or so in length, and while there are five subspecies, with differing amounts of white on their backs, they all belong to the same species, Gymnorthina tibicen.
 Although named by early British settlers to Australia after their British counterpart, due to similarity in looks, it is a completely different species.
Australian Magpies probe the soil with their strong bill, looking for insects, particularly favouring scarab beetles; they also like seeds and carrion.
 As it is happy anywhere with trees and open ground, it is common throughout most of Australia.
 Strutting about, he looks you straight in the eye - or at least, sideways in the eye - and carols to his mate.
 In fact, he usually has more than one female with him.
 His glossy blackness, his pristine white parts, combine to give him an aura of beauty.
The melodious carolling of the Magpies in the morning is part of the pleasure of being in the countryside; however, they also sing in urban areas, and although any bird field guide will tell you they carol in the mornings, in fact they can be heard at any time of the day.
 I have often walked by my local riverbank in Adelaide, South Australia, in the afternoon and heard them carolling.
Breeding season can be risky for humans in their territory - they will dive-bomb passers-by, mainly in spring, though their breeding season can extend from July to February.
 The female lays 3-4 eggs, which are pale in colour, in a bowl-shaped nest.
The chicks remain in the nest for about a month, but still rely on the adults in the group for several more weeks.
 Their feathers are lighter in colour than the adults.
 Their small group of up to 24 individuals may only have one breeding pair, the dominant male and the dominant female.
The Magpie is quite a large bird, at about 40 cm or so in length, and while there are five subspecies, with differing amounts of white on their backs, they all belong to the same species, Gymnorthina tibicen.
 Although named by early British settlers to Australia after their British counterpart, due to similarity in looks, it is a completely different species.
Australian Magpies probe the soil with their strong bill, looking for insects, particularly favouring scarab beetles; they also like seeds and carrion.
 As it is happy anywhere with trees and open ground, it is common throughout most of Australia.
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