magpie-playing-with-grass-clump

Do Magpies Play?

I often see Sulphur Crested Cockatoos at play, but Magpies always seem so serious in searching for food or defending territory.  Even when  caroling, they seem to scan their surrounds, just checking to make sure everything is as it should be.  Lately, I’ve witnessed a young Magpie engaged in a few incidents that could be interpreted as playing.  The latest one was just outside the study window, where a clump of grass and roots pulled (by us) from our garden became something to wrestle, and a treasure to carry around.

Here is a slide show of the highlights. I haven’t captioned the photographs individually, as this is largely self-explanatory:

4 thoughts on “Do Magpies Play?

    1. Yes, it was. This bird isn’t quite an adult, I think. It still has a little bit of grey fluff and has only recently become independent of it’s parents. At one stage there was a sibling, and I also saw the siblings with feet locked together rolling around in mock-fights. Not sure what happened to the sibling, but it doesn’t seem to be around. Maybe this bird just misses playing with another bird? Not sure! I haven’t seen magpies do this before either! 🙂

  1. What a wonderful series of photos. Love it. It is not uncommon for young magpies to amuse themselves like this, it’s all part of learning.Thoroughly enjoyed the photos. 🙂

Leave a reply to KM Photography Cancel reply