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Australian Magpie

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Habitat: Heathland, Woodland, Coastal, Island, Urban, Grassland

Habitat

Australian Magpies are found wherever there is a combination of trees and adjacent open areas, including parks and playing fields. They are absent only from the densest forests and arid deserts.

Behaviour

The Australian Magpie is highly intelligent. They have been known to be cooperative (eg. assisting other magpies in their group to peck off tracking devices), and to play and wrestle together.

Feeding

The Australian Magpie walks along the ground searching for insects and their larvae. Their diet can also include frogs, lizards, small animals and carrion as well as seeds, fruit and scraps of food or refuse. Birds will also take handouts from humans and will often venture into open houses to beg for food.

Breeding

Magpies breed from August to November and lay a clutch of 3 to 5 eggs. Their nest is a platform of sticks and twigs (occasionally wire), with a small interior bowl lined with grass and hair constructed in the outer branches of a tree, up to 15 meters above the ground. Females incubate the eggs for about 20 days, and the birds fledge after about 35 days.