Buster121 wrote: ↑Sat Apr 09, 2022 7:17 pm
Murray wrote: ↑Sat Apr 09, 2022 9:55 am
Different subject,
I was emptying some dirty nest bowls into the organic waste bin, (that's the one with the GREEN lid, that is a hint
), and a baby magpie was standing on another of our bins.
It watched me brushing out the bowls, and jumped over onto the green waste bin. When I held my hand out it hopped onto it, and looked up at me. When I put my face down it poked it's beak in the corner of my eye, then felt all around my face with it's beak.
I swear I am not making this up.
When I stood up it jumped back. I went inside and grabbed a few of the supermarket cat biscuits we feed the magpies. It jumped back on my hand and was eating them, but was not impressed. Then, away it went!
10 minutes later it was back, looking for more.
I am not sure what the best description is for this. Catherine was watching, she said, "that made your day".
It did.
Going to have another go
What a brilliant thing to happen, wished I could get up close like that they just fly away here, when was a kid my brother found a baby magpie on floor down the road and got it back home nurtured it back to health and when it was ready to fly used to let it out it's box and it was up and away always returning and coming back to roost, lady few doors away used to hate it every time she pegged her washing out it would pull pegs back out and washing would fall to floor lol lol shouldn't laugh really but was funny at time, one day when about 8 months old it went off and never came back
Yes, Buster, it was a brilliant thing to happen.
That is the thing, as you say they will fly away when you get too close. Except..
We have some magpies which we have been feeding for some years. We know that there are several generations, as the tamer ones bring their babies and show them that if you stand on the table, they will come out and feed you.
I started to think that imprinting is passed on from generation to generation.
That baby magpie had never seen me before, but knew that I was not going to harm it, but rather, would feed it.
Or, It's parents had told it that.
Same as the pigeons. Some people assume that they come out of an egg, and know nothing. I tend to disagree. I think smart, happy young birds are the progeny of smart, happy parents. And that imprinting begins when they are still in the egg.
