Magpie and blackbird

Vivien

Many thanks for the blackbird observations in response to my Magpie observation query on my weblog. I have watched blackbirds take tadpoles and at a school I was working with last year, they had a problem of blackbirds eating adult newts as they surfaced for a gulp of air. Having a wide range of potential food possibly gives rise to an increase in opportunistic behaviour.

As for the magpie, the adult slow worm may have been dead when it was found by the magpie. However, the behaviours during the observation suggested it might have been alive; however my angle of view meant I could only see the slow worm the few occasions it actually picked it up in its beak. Another addition to the observation (not included on the weblog) was that after I took the pictures the magpie was attacked and chased off into a nearby tree by a crow. This attracted the attention of a herring gull that swooped down and chased off the crow.

Steve Savage

Environmental Educator and Natural History Author