MAGPIE (Pica pica) - Pie bavarde
Summary
A common species of wooded gardens and urban parks, field edges and small woodlands. It is a familiar feature of rural life and many myths and folk tales surround it. It has a complex vocabulary, some of which is explained here, but its most easily recognised call is a harsh staccato chattering:
Male and female are alike. (Arlette Berlie)
The Magpie is a very familiar bird to most people. In Switzerland it is most common on the plains below 800m, but can penetrate alpine valleys up to about 1400m and, although it has been recorded nesting at 2100m, this is rather uncommon. It avoids deep forest and large open agricultural fields, but everywhere else offers what it needs. It is found commonly in mature parks and gardens, woodland edge, farmland with hedgerows and bushes, and alongside rivers.
A tail “shining like silk” (Arlette Berlie)
The plumage is unmistakable and the sexes are alike; so, male and female can only be told by their behaviour. Even the juveniles, once out of the nest, have the same colour pattern as their parents and can only be identified by their generally duller plumage, lacking the lovely gloss of the adults that makes the blue wings and green tail shine like silk in the right light.
Juveniles have a duller plumage (Jan Engan: Pixabay)
It is generally sedentary, maintaining a territory throughout the year, and seldom wanders more than a few kilometres from it. Pairs are mostly monogamous, and pair bonds seem to last until one dies. But in winter, when most deaths occur, they will form loose flocks which in early spring take on a more serious form when non-breeding birds try to establish territories. One method is to start a gathering on the boundary of territory holders which attracts other individuals. Then they may be seen tumbling through the trees, chasing, displaying, squabbling and making much noise. Usually the invaders are driven off but occasionally win a foothold in a new territory (Birkhead and Clarkson 1985).
Magpie fortune-tellers…..
“One for sorrow, Two for joy,
Three for a girl and Four for a boy,
Five for silver, Six for gold, Seven for a secret never to be told
Eight for a wish, Nine for a kiss,
Ten for a bird you never should miss”
(Sketch: Frank Jarvis)
The crow family (Corvidae) have been an ever-present part of farm and rural village life for centuries. Many songs, rhymes and superstitions about them have evolved. It is probably the spring “ceremonial gatherings” of magpies that gave rise to the old children’s forecasting rhyme (see box).
Crows generally are not always welcome or treated well in these folk tales, and whilst Magpies seem to do better than others members of the family, they still have to carry a lot of erroneous myths about their bad behaviour. Stories abound of how they steal shiny objects and take them to their nest, although it is doubtful that this happens on a massive scale and is probably based on the inquisitiveness of corvids and their habit of “food caching” winter supplies (Cocker&Tipling 2013) (see also Jay and Nutcracker for more on this). So engrained are these stories that Italian composer Rossini even wrote a well known opera called “The Thieving Magpie” (La Gazza Ladra). They also have a bad reputation for stealing the eggs and chicks of smaller song birds, which they do, but there is no evidence that they have a negative impact on the populations of their victims (Gooch et al 1991). Nonetheless, this reputation still sticks, and so the Magpie was persecuted for many years by gamekeepers wishing to protect the populations of grouse, pheasants and partridge for their masters to shoot. Such was the impact of this in Britain that during both the First and Second World Wars, when guns were pointed elsewhere, there were resurgences in Magpie populations (Coombs 1978). In the ‘50s and ‘60s however, agricultural expansion and use of chemicals kept populations down. Today, Europe as whole has seen a steady rise in Magpie numbers since the late ‘80s, probably due to conservation measures, decline in gun sports, and greening of urban areas.
The French name “bavarde” means “talkative, gossipy, garrulous” and the local name in Norfolk is “chatterpie”; Magpies certainly seem to have an insatiable desire to make a noise, just like the gossip-mongers of the woods! The voice is not really that pleasant (to our ears) but consists of a set of rather “woody”, harsh guttural notes of a fairly wide variety, the significance of which seems to vary according to the circumstances. Several studies have tried to describe and catalogue the calls (Goodwin 1952; Holyoak 1974; Baeyens 1979; Birkhead 1991), and I have tried my best to build on their descriptions, but one person’s written version of a call in the absence of a sonogram and recording is very subjective, and I found the matter quite confusing. Nevertheless, since this is such a familiar bird I thought it worthwhile to give it a try:
1. Chattering
The most distinctive sound we all hear is a rapid chattering call, and this can be delivered in a brief short form:
Or if the occasion demands in a longer more determined form:
Both of these are made with the same note:
These are ascribed as alarm or aggression calls (Goodwin 1952; Coombs 1978) and I have seen them used when a nesting pair are threatened by Crows, or when another Magpie has entered their territory. Here is a bird trading this call against another Magpie which can be heard in the distance. (You can also hear the drumming of a Great Spotted Woodpecker and Wood Pigeons calling)
2. “Shrak-ak”
If the calls above do not deter whatever is the target then a very sharp, staccato, two-note “Shrak-ak!” can be used as a reinforcement. Here you can see the sonogram of one of these which I repeated:
As you can see from the sonograms, these call notes contain very little structure and a wide range of frequencies, which I think imparts their “wooden” tone. But this may also may make it hard for our brains to process, and make them hard to distinguish when heard in the field. At least I get confused by them!
3. “Tchuk”
Very similar in tone and manner to the above two calls is what has been referred to as a blunt single call “Tchuk”. I cannot tell you what this is used for - maybe it is simply an advertising call for territorial purposes, or to attract the mate, or simply to maintain the pair-bond. Coombs (1978) describes a behaviour he calls “wing-flirting” where the caller ducks their head and gives a quick flick of the wings:
4. “Cheeuch”
Another commonly heard call sounds almost like a “yelp” or a “shreik” and was characterised by Goodwin (1952) as “Cheeuch!”. Its origin is ascribed to begging calls of nestlings, but it is used by the female to solicit food from her partner and as a greeting between the pair. It is only the female that makes this call:
As you can see’ there is a clear structure to this call with the fundamental note sliding upwards.
I hear it a lot when two birds are together, which is why I think it is also used as a bonding mechanism of some sort. In this piece you can see and hear the “Cheeuch” note being exchanged with another bird. The other bird (presumably male) makes a brief double note, like a gentler version of the “shrak-ak” call above.
A pair “conversing”
5. “Tchurch”
Some authors have written about a call that sounds like “Tchurch” , and this may be the male double-call in the sonogram above, but I can’t be sure. Here is some more of it in isolation, again it seems to be associated with the pair-bond:
6. Calls made in close proximity
I have magpies come down into my garden, and so I can be close as well when they are together. I have heard a variety of gentle notes in this situation, but one that sticks out to me I recorded here: it is a few barely audible clicks. Listen carefully, there are just two clicks at 2s and 3s into the recording, the first just after an insect buzzes past my microphone:
(my neighbours were having lunch in their garden so yes you heard voices!)
I have also heard them make very nasally buzzing, or stridulating sounds, when close together. In this next clip the birds were at their nest near the top of a spruce tree near my garden. They had just successfully driven off a pair of Crows that had been harassing them and the Magpies had returned close to the nest deep in a spruce tree, but could not be seen. At the start of the clip you can hear wings as the last Crow flew off, and then you can hear a whole series of clicks, buzzes, and rasping sounds, interspersed by the “Cheeuch” call of the female. At 26s and 34s you can hear wings beating on the thick vegetation of the spruce tree, and I wondered if the click/buzz noises were from the male and this was the two copulating - pure speculation though as I could not see anything!
7. Nest Babbling
Finally, it has been stated that, at the nest, the Magpies will carry out what has been called “babble singing” (Holyoak 1969 in Coombs 1978; Baeyens, 1979). I am really not sure what this is, or whether the following qualifies or not, but one day I recorded the following from the nest mentioned above:
I would certainly call it “babbling”!
A late winter “ceremonial gathering” (Arlette Berlie)
So, there you have the Magpie - the bavarde, the “gossip of the woods”, and a selection of its varied vocabulary that I have been able to pick out. They certainly are very interesting birds for a whole host of reasons - and so familiar to most people. Next time you see one, take a closer look at that superb plumage glistening in the sunlight, listen out for their complex sounds, and don’t be put off by all those myths and the bad reputation - this is really a stunning bird !
If you would like to hear some of these calls in a real-life contest with Crows visit here.
