Myths of the magpies

Kingdom: Animalia

Family: Corvidae

Species: Pica pica

Magpies are common birds in the UK, and have quadrupled in numbers in the last 35 years. This increase is thought to be due to the amount of carrion from road kills available today, providing a year-round food source. They live in nests of sticks, mud, plant fibre and hair, which are usually situated in trees or bushes and love areas with scattered trees and shrub which include suburban areas. This makes the UEA campus a perfect environment, with plenty of trees and shrubs while still being a suburban area. The magpie builds its home "V" shapes in trees. Forks or V's in nature are symbolic of gateways or paths into the spirit realm and this is meant to ask us about our level of spiritual perception. They rarely travel more than 10 km from where they are born so most magpies born on the university grounds will stay here.

There are many myths and rumours about magpies and I thought I’d do them a favour and sort a few of them out:

1) They steal our jewellery!

Magpies are known for stealing sparkly and shiny objects such as jewellery, which is meant to be symbolic of our tendency to chase after false ideas or perceptions. However, recent research by the University of Exeter has shown that magpies don’t steal shiny objects, and are actually scared of them! This research may lead to a change in the definition of magpies in the Collins English Dictionary for a magpie as a ‘person who hoards small objects’. This may also have wider impacts, such as on the opera ‘La Gazza Ladra’ which is based on a servant girl being held responsible for a series of thefts which were actually committed by a magpie. This is now incorrect, and therefore makes little sense.

2) One for sorrow, two for joy…

Magpies are strongly associated with superstition, and has been since time as early as the sixteenth century, when the popular rhyme was first sung. The song has developed since these times with different numbers being given completely different meanings. There is clearly no truth in it, but it still remains a popular tradition in British culture today. There was once a tradition of raising your hat to a magpie, but as so few people wear hats these days, tradition has died out, although some people do still salute. They are associated with different superstitions in different areas of Britain – in Yorkshire they are associated with evil and you should make a sign of the cross to ward off evil, and in Scotland a single magpie is a sign of impending death!

3) They are responsible for songbird decline.

As we go into winter, the many magpies on the university grounds will be living off a primarily vegetarian diet, whereas in the summer it consists predominantly of ground invertebrates. In the spring, the magpie becomes a major predator as it has to provide for its young and it actually raids other songbirds’ nests and eats their eggs. It is often thought that this may be linked to decline in songbird numbers in the last 25 years, but research by the British Trust for Ornithology has found no evidence that increased numbers of magpies have caused declines in songbirds. It confirms that populations of prey species are not determined by the numbers of their predators, but instead by availability of food and suitable nesting sites are probably the main factors limiting songbird populations.

4) Magpies mate for life.

This is true, but is slightly more complicated than it seems. Magpies have a home territory of around five hectares, and between 25% and 60% of magpies in this area do not breed because nest sites are limited. They therefore form flocks with a home range of up to 20 hectares and then may pair up within the flock.

5) They have huge communal nests.

A typical magpie nest has a roof, and up to two entrances. Their nests are often adopted by long-eared owls. In the winter, these nests are shared by up to 200 magpies as they take part in communal roosting. This allows them to share body heat and decrease the thermoregulatory demands on the individuals within the roost. This is a behaviour also displayed in many other birds such as Jackdaws.

So some of the rumours are true, some of them not. Magpies do eat other birds’ eggs, but this is to feed their young and is not causing decline in songbird numbers. However, most impacts that magpies supposedly have on humans are not true – they don’t give us bad luck and they don’t steal our stuff. So maybe they’re not all that bad.