Magpie Carrying A Big Stick

Probably not what TR had in mind but whatever works.

 

1/1250, f/5.6, ISO 800, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in

Just over three weeks ago, when the Black-billed Magpies I’ve been following this spring on Antelope Island were still adding to their nest, I happened to catch the male of the pair trying to carry an unusually long stick. I’ve seen various magpies carrying many hundreds of twigs and sticks to their nests but this one might be the longest one of all.

In this photo he’s retrieving it from the vegetation he found it in. I watched him carry it, with great difficulty, to the back of the nest where I couldn’t see him but I’m certain it became part of the nest construction.

The stick is longer than you might think.

 

 

In this version of the same photo I’ve marked the end of it with a small red X. That’s a big stick.

The stick likely came from greasewood. When building the dome of their nest magpies prefer thorny twigs such as hawthorn or greasewood when they’re available, presumably because the thorns interlock to make the dome more stable. Greasewood is common on this part of the island.

In fact, this particular nest is actually in a greasewood bush.

Ron

 

Note: “TR” is of course Teddy Roosevelt, who famously said of our foreign policy “Speak softly and carry a big stick”.  Magpies know next to nothing about speaking softly but apparently they’re working on the big stick part. 

 

24 Comments

  1. Mary Walton Mayshark-Stavely

    Thank you, Ron!
    Green and lots of birds in our yard in the woods this time of year! We also had a porcupine wander in recently. I’m so appreciative of your posts and wisdoms.
    À bientôt, Mary

  2. That bird is absolutely beautiful as well as strong. I love the colors of his feathers. Thank you, Ron.

  3. Amazing he could fly with that!

  4. That is a humungous stick – and difficult to see how it could be incorporated into a nest. Where there’s a will?
    And I doubt that particular magpie could say anything while grappling with that…

  5. Classic example of stick-to-it-ive-ness. TR would have said, “Bully for you, good man!”

  6. Squawk softly and carry a big stick. 😉

  7. Now I know how plants turn green in spring. Magpies touch them with their magic wands. 🪄🌿

  8. Everett F Sanborn

    My first thought was that Magpies sure don’t speak softly. Teddy was one of our most quoted Presidents, and of course much remembered for creating so many of our National Parks and for being an avid birder as a young man.
    Beautiful shots of the Magpie. That is definitely not an easy stick to carry to the nest.

    • Everett, I have and have read the two volume biography of TR by Edmund Morris. If ever there was an outsized character in our history, it’s Teddy.

  9. I hope that someday someone will be able to explain just WHAT goes
    into the selection of any particular addition to a bird’s nest-building
    materials– most pieces are obviously useful, but then there are the
    counter-intuitive ones like this huge piece !

  10. Michael McNamara

    Pretty ambitious.

  11. That IS a big stick for the Magpie – manipulating it to become part of the nest has to be a challenge. Know they make a mess nest building when various twigs don’t work and ind up at the base of a tree they are using….. 😉 Yes, I have to mow under one of them…. I know they take exception to other birds perching on top of the nest at times – perhaps another reason for thorny twig choice?

    • “I know they take exception to other birds perching on top of the nest at times”

      Judy, that’s something I expect to see more often than I actually do. I’ve seen birds such as meadowlarks, mockingbirds and various sparrows perch right on top of magpie nests but don’t recall seeing one of the magpies chasing them off.

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