I have no interest in birdwatching but I did just witness some very strange behaviour from some magpies. I was on my lunchbreak and found a bench in the sun where I could sit down and read. My attention was drawn to a pair of magpies on the grass nearby. One appeared to youngish and was quite grey and other was an adult. The young one stood next to the adult and started cheeping, then all of a sudden it was on it's back, it's feet thrashing in the air and the adult leaning over it. At first I thought they were fighting. Then it appeared that their beaks were locked in some kind of embrace.
Before I had a chance to fully comprehend what was going on, a third magpie (an adult) joined them and started attacking the young one, which was on its feet by then. A interested mudlark saw what was going on and began hovering over the squabbling magpies. They pecked at it and it soon got the hint and left. The third magpie then chased the young one behind a tree and they kept peeping around the trunk at each other before continuing the chase up the hill. Then the original adult also turned on the young one and started chasing it until they disappeared out of sight.
Was this some kind of bird discipline, a mating ritual or was it just a game? I don't think I would have liked to have been the young magpie. Those beaks look sharp!
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