Bird makes better people
Down at Joe’s Market Garden in Coburg the resident magpies fly down after the soil has been cultivated to harvest the grubs and beetle larvae.
This particular family have been a constant at Joe’s, arriving not long after CERES began farming here in 2003. A mural on the side of the farm shed immortalises their place on the farm.
At the CERES Fair Wood warehouse over in Preston three resident magpies hang out by the front roller door.
The other day I watched the trio wandering inside right up to the counter to say hello to their friend Fair Wood salesman, Tim Ayris.
Magpies stick around in very small permanent territories. If you’re wondering if the maggies you saw on your walk yesterday could be the same ones you’re seeing today, they probably are. Magpie researchers have recorded magpies maintaining the same territories for up to 20 years.
At CERES in Brunswick East a magpie family follows the Park workers as they make their way around the garden beds.
Park Manager, Bel Kennedy, knows many by sight and name; parents Izzie and Colin rule the park from the pond down to the creek.
Their kids, including Fred, Sam, Lucky, Jaala, Jaebin, Hope, Ursa and Adi to name a few, have been introduced to Bel’s team by Izzie each year.
Last week Izzie spent some time hanging out in the Park Team’s office (that’s her in the pic above).
Can magpies and people be friends? The magpies we know at CERES are genuinely curious about what we do, they talk and sing to us and join in with our activities and introduce family members.
It feels like a friendship, something that bird behaviourist Gisela Kaplan says is particular to magpies and not so much with other birds.
Once a magpie is your friend it becomes a someone rather than a something – a someone to look out for in the morning, to say hello to, to be happy for in good times and sad for in hard times.
When we make friends with magpies, we want them to have places to live and be safe from our more thoughtless activities.
Magpies make us aware, make us present and less self-obsessed – it’s a big thing to say but I think magpies make us better people.
Studies reveal that magpies recognise our faces, and like us they also remember good and ill deeds, which is why they swoop strangers and enemies and not friends and allies during breeding season.
A great reason to get outside and make friends with your local magpie family.
Have a great week
Chris
