A review of T R Birkhead´s "The Magpies"
As a
kid, I was fascinated by magpies. I grew up in a urban/suburban environment,
and we had magpies nesting in a lone pinetree in the middle of our
neighborhood. In fact, there are magpies pretty much everywhere here in
Stockholm, perhaps because of all the parkland and pockets of "real"
forest. To me, magpies are exotic birds, almost like parrots. It seems T.R.
Birkhead shares this assesment. At least, there are two people with the same
delusion!
When I first glanced through Birkhead's book, I assumed it was a very technical and complicated study, because of all the tables and graphs. Actually, the text is relatively easy to read, even to the general reader, although I suppose the book is mostly intended for biology students.
Most of the material in the book deals with the European magpie, but the North American magpie (possibly a distinct species) is also mentioned, as is the Yellow-billed Magpie, a curious species endemic to California. Much of the book deals with breeding behavior. Other chapters focus on magpie territoriality, "ceremonial gatherings", roosting and the constant enmity between magpies and crows. There is also a *very* amusing and absurd chapter on what happened when Birkhead and his students studied magpies in the Rivelin Valley, England (the name "Rivelin" sounds like something from Lord of the Rings). Apparently, they had to climb some very tall trees outside a local hospital, where patients in wheelchairs were watching them, hoping that some of the scientists would fall down and get hospitalized! Clearly, you don't just need a straight A in math to become a good scientist, you also need to be a bit like Indiana Jones (or a hobbit?).
The most interesting part of "The Magpies" is the chapter on their relationship to man. It turns out that the Romans had magpies as pets, or rather as "watchdogs". During the Middle Ages the magpie was considered to be a merry bird and something of the farmer's best friend. This changed during the 18th and 19th centuries, when gamekeepers systematically exterminated magpies over large parts of Britain, seeing them as a serious threat to gamebirds (which the nobility naturally wanted to shoot themselves!). Still today, magpies are widely unpopular, and in suburban and urban settings they are often considered a serious threat to songbirds. Birkhead and his collegues have studied this issue, and confidently report that domestic cats kill and eat considerably more songbirds than the magpies do! Finally, the author mentions that on the Aran Islands off the Irish coast, people actually eat magpies, turning them into a delicious magpie pie. Quite naturally, the bird tend to avoid the Aran Islands.
Recommended.
Magpies "R" Us!
When I first glanced through Birkhead's book, I assumed it was a very technical and complicated study, because of all the tables and graphs. Actually, the text is relatively easy to read, even to the general reader, although I suppose the book is mostly intended for biology students.
Most of the material in the book deals with the European magpie, but the North American magpie (possibly a distinct species) is also mentioned, as is the Yellow-billed Magpie, a curious species endemic to California. Much of the book deals with breeding behavior. Other chapters focus on magpie territoriality, "ceremonial gatherings", roosting and the constant enmity between magpies and crows. There is also a *very* amusing and absurd chapter on what happened when Birkhead and his students studied magpies in the Rivelin Valley, England (the name "Rivelin" sounds like something from Lord of the Rings). Apparently, they had to climb some very tall trees outside a local hospital, where patients in wheelchairs were watching them, hoping that some of the scientists would fall down and get hospitalized! Clearly, you don't just need a straight A in math to become a good scientist, you also need to be a bit like Indiana Jones (or a hobbit?).
The most interesting part of "The Magpies" is the chapter on their relationship to man. It turns out that the Romans had magpies as pets, or rather as "watchdogs". During the Middle Ages the magpie was considered to be a merry bird and something of the farmer's best friend. This changed during the 18th and 19th centuries, when gamekeepers systematically exterminated magpies over large parts of Britain, seeing them as a serious threat to gamebirds (which the nobility naturally wanted to shoot themselves!). Still today, magpies are widely unpopular, and in suburban and urban settings they are often considered a serious threat to songbirds. Birkhead and his collegues have studied this issue, and confidently report that domestic cats kill and eat considerably more songbirds than the magpies do! Finally, the author mentions that on the Aran Islands off the Irish coast, people actually eat magpies, turning them into a delicious magpie pie. Quite naturally, the bird tend to avoid the Aran Islands.
Recommended.
Magpies "R" Us!
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