Mating Behaviour in Magpies plus Sightings of Robins
I saw this strange behaviour between these two Magpies on the steps of a building where the female would shiver her wings and body, then the male who was sitting above her on a railing , would swoop down on her. This happened twice.The first picture shows the female shivering for the second time, vigorously flapping her wings close to her body.
The second picture shows the male swooping down to the female who is tilting her tail and hind end up in the air.
Then the pair flew to a nearby tree and both disappeared into this nest, entering from the side away from me.
At the end of the street where I live I observed one lone magpie near an obvious magpie nest.I thought maybe if I waited, it would go into the nest.
It went closer but did not attempt to enter the nest.
Instead, another one came out of it. The second one appears to be holding a stick in its mouth. The two of them flew off together.
I also saw three robins today, the first is a female in the woods.
The second was a male down the street from the woods, not necessarily the mate.
And the third was a male singing in a tree beside the magpie nest.
There is a nest in the same tree, but not a typical robin’s nest. Who knows?
There is a lot of activity in the neighbourhood,and plenty of opportunities to observe magpies, house finches, robins, crows, house sparrows, all of whom are nesting in the neighbourhood or nearby. Next month the warblers will arrive. I am looking forward to the upcoming season.
Courtship Rituals
It is interesting to watch the courtship of Canada Geese. After a flight of over a thousand miles, arriving to find snow over the pond, they take turns at stretching out the neck and retracting it back into an s-shape. There is biting of the feathers and neck, flapping of the wings. These two were the ones from the previous post and are engaged in a ritual but not mating.
In the first photo the gander is “goosing” the goose. Probably where that term “goosing” originated. It means to pinch.
They walk together a few steps.
I apologise for the poor exposures. I may fix them and re-insert newly edited ones. Then he reaches out and bites her feathers while she turns her head away.
Now he reaches out with his neck but no contact is made.
And here is another pair later on…he seems to be making a pass and does this a couple of times then they walk a few steps before he tries again…
Next time he is not so subtle.
I will leave the rest up to your interpretations. I see this behaviour repeated all over the pond.
My Heartsong 