E. A. Janes; NHPA 



Between bouts of chasing and calling, a moment of peace 

 prevails among a small congregation of magpies, right, in 

 Hertfordshire, near London. Such ceremonial gatherings 

 precede the breeding season, typically occurring in early 

 spring before the trees are in leaf. Below: Two magpies vie for 

 dominance in a heads-up display that often takes place when 

 opponents are evenly matched. 



^.'*-<-^ 



L 





ern Hemisphere. They are basically 

 monogamous: a male and female usually 

 work together to rear offspring. In my 

 study area, pairs defend an all-purpose ter- 

 ritory of about twelve and a half acres. All 

 activities — wintering, feeding, roosting, 

 breeding, nesting, and chick rearing — take 

 place here, and some birds spend their en- 

 tire life within the boundaries of their terri- 

 tory. In rural England, an ideal magpie ter- 

 ritory contains areas of close-cropped 

 grass suitable for foraging for adult and 

 larval insects (the birds may also eat grain, 

 berries, and carrion) and has either thorny 

 bushes or tall trees for nesting. Although 

 territories are occupied throughout the 

 year, they are actively defended only in 

 March and April — the early part of the 

 breeding season. 



The domed nest is bulky and conspicu- 

 ous. Birds will sometimes reuse a nest 

 from the previous year, but more often 

 they build a new one. If good nest sites are 



in short supply, the new nest is often con- 

 structed directly on top of the old one, and 

 stacks of four or five nests are not uncom- 

 mon. Of the normal six-egg clutch, usu- 

 ally only three or four of the chicks fledge. 

 The young birds are fed by their parents 

 for six weeks after fledging — a long time 

 by songbird standards. 



As young magpies become indepen- 

 dent, sibling groups start to coalesce into 

 loose flocks that remain close to home. 

 One of the most unusual aspects of magpie 

 behavior is this tendency of young birds to 

 remain within a few hundred yards of their 

 natal nest. A nonbreeding flock is a 

 weakly structured group of from ten to 

 fifty birds that share a common home 

 range of about thirty-seven acres. Flock 

 members fly and forage alone or in bands 

 of three or four birds, coming together 

 only at common food sources, such as a 

 small carcass, or when roosting for the 

 evening. Within a flock a hierarchy soon 



becomes established. Males, perhaps be- 

 cause they are slightly larger, dominate fe- 

 males, but a hierarchy exists for each sex. 

 About 80 percent of the birds within a 

 flock are in their first year of life, most of 

 the rest are in their second, and even fewer 

 are in their third or fourth year. Although 

 less numerous, older birds generally dom- 

 inate the younger ones. 



Magpies express their social rank most 

 commonly around food: dominant indi- 

 viduals drive away subordinates, and 

 males displace females. Rank is vitally 

 important because it ultimately determines 

 who wiU and will not get to breed. 



56 Natural History 3/94 



