Magpies Serve A Very Important Purpose In Nature

The magpie has many characteristics to admire. Magpies mate for life, sharing the domestic duties of nest building and feeding and raising their young. After laying six to eight eggs, the female magpie incubates the clutch for 16 to 21 days. Both parents are attentive to the nestlings, and they fledge when 25 to 29 days old. Magpies raise a single brood each year. They build their nests in loose colonies, keeping their siblings and young close.

Graceful in flight, these large members of the crow family are long tailed, black and white birds, approximately 20 inches in length. In the soft sunlight, their black wings and tail appear iridescent bluish-green in bold contrast to gleaming white wing patches.
　　
Magpie nests are large for the size of the bird - often measuring in excess of three feet across. The nest is a spherical mass of sticks and twigs, often adorned with found bits of colorful thread, paper or string. Built for comfort with a mud cup lovingly lined with soft wool, hair or moss, the nest also has side entrance holes. They nest in bushes and trees at low elevations 10 to 20 feet from the ground.
　　
Like other corvids, magpies are omnivorous and opportunistic. Small rodents, other birds, bird eggs, snakes, insects, berries, nuts and seeds are favorite fare. Magpies are not picky eaters. Magpies are not timid and can be trained to feed from the hand. In their brave journey across Montana, this behavior was mentioned by Lewis and Clark in the chronicles of their adventures in 1804.
　　
Magpies serve a very important purpose in nature in that they consume large quantities of ticks gleaned from the bodies of deer, bison, moose and elk, especially in the early spring. Ticks are a tiresome irritation to the host animals, so they most willingly submit to the magpies grooming attention.
　　
Historically, magpies frequently followed Native Americans and lived on the refuse of their hunts. A born thief and scavenger, magpies will also often follow predators to clean up after their kill, feasting on maggots as well as carrion. Native American folklore tells of the magpie leading the wolf to wounded or weak prey so that the wolf may finish the kill and together they may feast on the bounty.
　　
Because of their aggressive intelligence, year-round residency and handsome plumage, magpies have long been admired favorites. In early Indian tribal lore, a warrior who wore two magpie feathers woven in his hair was considered both fierce and fearless. The magpie also features prominently in many Indian myths and legends as both a doer of good deeds as well as a crafty mischief-maker.
　　
A pair of Magpies nested in a neighbour's tree in 1998, after much fighting between rival pairs. The nest building took several attempts over six weeks, and when finished did not have a domed roof. Given the time it took to build, and the absence of the roof, we think they were an inexperienced couple. We never saw the juveniles, so we do not know whether they were successful in rearing young. The gales at the beginning of February 1999 demolished the previous year's nest, but the Magpies started to rebuild it during March and April, but after several failed attempts they gave up and flew away. They nested somewhere close by and the bird with the passion for dunking its bread was a regular visitor. The Magpies' attempts to build a nest in 2001 - 2004 were abandoned after continued attacks by Carrion Crows. In 2005, they nested successfully in a neighbour's tree, but the juveniles were not seen.　　

Many winters ago the people received a gift called the talking feather. I will share with you the story of how this came to pass. When the call came to the young mothers in the village to take their baskets and gather the fruit and berries, the old grandmothers, whose legs had lost the fast walk and sure foot of the doe, were left to care for the young children. The mothers honored the grandmothers by giving them this responsibility on those days.
　　
It is believed that the young children have many dreams and visions to collect before they are grown. They were given a bit of sleep in the warmth of a darkened lodge before Sun has traveled his full path each day. Now let me tell you what happened on one of these days.
　　
Crow and Magpie, two of our noise making winged ones were having a terrible argument outside the lodge of the sleeping children. "Caaaw-caaaw" screamed Crow. "Kaaack-Kack" yelled Magpie. They were both speaking at once and they could not hear each other's point of view on the subject of which tree belonged to which bird.

The Satyr Tragopan Is A Bird That Will Not Easily Be Forgotten

Just about every person in the world knows about the fact that there is a bird whose name is pheasant; most people associate it with the common ring-necked pheasant. However, I bet that most people do not know about the Satyr Tragopan this is also a pheasant, one that is not so common; they are rare enough so that you don't ever hear about them and you never see them, one might ask if they even exist! They do exist and they are a pheasant so mysterious and beautiful that it makes the common ring-neck look like nothing more than a chicken.

The Satyr Tragopan also goes by the name crimson horned pheasant- this is a bird which not surprisingly (because of the name) belongs to the Tragopan pheasant family. One other name that people like to call these birds is the Horned Pheasant. This is because when they are going through their little courtship rituals in the hopes that their mate will accept them, the males erect two little colorful fleshy horns that are on the top of their heads.

This wonderful beautiful bird can be found in the Himalayan area, places like India, Nepal and Bhutan. The Satyr Tragopan is a bird that loves to live in the forest under the trees, a good play with a lot of cover from predators and on the other hand a rather pretty place to live if you ask me. They live in forests that are 8,000 to 14,000 feet high in the summer and right around 6,000 in the winter.

These are strange birds that always have a little surprise for you if you do not know them very well; they have lappets and horns that they inflate with air. The Satyr Tragopan is a bird that can grow up to reach about 68 to 72 cm and they can weigh up to 4lbs, that's big enough. The male is gorgeous, he has a back that is almost all brown, a black head and a black tail. The thing that makes him beautiful though is his deep ruby red chest, the red starts on his neck and covering the base of his wings and going all the way down to cover his belly. One other thing that makes him stand out is the ocelli (eyelike markings) that cover his whole body. His head is picture perfect, with a crown of red feathers and just a little bit of royal blue showing through, this is the face of one bird that you will not easily forget!

You know how with some birds it is considered almost impossible to breed them and get a healthy brood of chicks from them? I know a person that has been trying to breed different kinds of birds for years and has never really succeeded, not because she is not doing everything that needs to be done, just because the birds are way too hard to breed and raise. But anyway, just so you know the Satyr Tragopan is not that way, this is one bird that is rather easy to breed and raise.

I mentioned earlier that the male has just a showing of blue on his head, well this blue will become more and more obvious as the breeding season comes closer. When the courtship ritual begins, the cock will shake his head and go into a dance that any female watching will not be able to resist, the male will bow over and over again with his wings spread and all his lappet and horns inflated...it is quite a sight and you'll surely remember such a show if you have the chance to see one!

Unlike other pheasant hens, the hens of the Satyr Tragopan clan will lay her eggs in a nest that has been elevated; I guess they did this in the wild to keep the babies safe from predators. She will lay about four eggs in one setting and being a good mom, will set them and raise up a bunch of happy healthy chicks.

The Satyr Tragopan is a bird that will not easily be forgotten, once you see one you too will become a slave of its mysterious beauty and fall under their spell.

Kookaburras Are Known To Cackle In A Merry Manner

My first brush with the Kookaburra was the kiddy song I heard in nursery school. When we sung the popular Kookaburra Sits On The Old Gum Tree, probably many of us were completely unaware what the bird actually looked like! The Kookaburras are large kingfishers that are native to Australia and New Guinea. Kookaburras are easily distinguished because of their loud calls; at times it sounds like a loud, echoing human laughter whereas in some cases, Kookaburras are known to cackle in a merry manner! So, what is it that really tickles their funny bone? I am sure one may never really know the joke, but you can definitely read on, to know more such interesting facts about the Kookaburra.

Facts about the Kookaburra:
There are around four known species of the Kookaburra. The Laughing Kookaburra and the Blue winged Kookaburra are at times, direct competitors when they inhabit common areas. The Laughing Kookaburra is known for its human laugh and the Blue winged Kookaburra has a deep cackle.

There is an interesting story about this extraordinary laugh of the Kookaburra bird. This bird was first spotted during the era of the Australian aborigines. It is said that when the sun rose for the first time, the God Bayame ordered the Kookaburra to utter its loud laughter so that it can awaken mankind and they would witness the beautiful and magnificent sunrise. There was also a myth associated with the Kookaburra; any child who insulted the Kookaburra would end up having a slanted tooth.

The Kookaburras are known to occupy woodland territories in family groups. These are territorial and are also known to live with their young for a marked period of time. The Kookaburras use their high-pitched laugh to demarcate their borders as well. These calls are more frequent shortly after dawn. There is also a particular pattern to these calls as well. When one Kookaburra starts with a low chuckle which ends up in laughter, several other Kookaburras join in as well. At times, another group of Kookaburras may also reply. The effect of all these Kookaburras laughing and chuckling together, may be quite terrifying to people who are not quite accustomed to it.

The diet of the Kookaburras consists of mice, large insects, small birds and even snakes as well. The surprising fact about Kookaburras is that they can take on preys that are larger in size including deadly, venomous snakes. When bred in captivity, these can be fed with meat and dead baby chicks. Kookaburras being quite noisy by nature need spacious cages to fly around and feel comfortable. The hunting habits are quite similar to the robins as well. Kookaburras perch on a convenient branch or even a wire to wait for a possible prey.

The Kookaburras use hollows in tree trunks and excavated termite nests to lay their eggs. The eggs of this bird range from two to four and are pure white in color. The females as well as the male Kookaburra bird help to incubate the eggs. The young birds stay in the nest for a period of 30 days and then begin actual flight. Even then, the parents generally feed them for a period of 40 days.