{"id":134607,"date":"2023-04-24T05:51:08","date_gmt":"2023-04-24T11:51:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=134607"},"modified":"2023-04-24T07:35:31","modified_gmt":"2023-04-24T13:35:31","slug":"magpie-with-a-praying-mantis-egg-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2023\/04\/24\/magpie-with-a-praying-mantis-egg-case\/","title":{"rendered":"Magpie With A Praying Mantis Egg Case"},"content":{"rendered":"

And an ingenious food strategy.<\/p>\n

Occasionally I rerun a favorite older post because many current blog followers have never seen it. This one was originally published in October of 2015. For this version I’ve edited the text, tweaked the formatting and changed the title.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Black-billed Magpies prefer to eat arthropods, seeds and carrion but being opportunistic omnivores they aren’t fussy and will consume an astonishingly wide variety of food items. Yesterday morning on Antelope Island I photographed a magpie demonstrating a new (to me) insectivorous twist in their diet.<\/p>\n

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\"black-billed<\/p>\n

1\/2500, f\/5.6, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon<\/em> EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/p>\n

After a slow morning on the island I approached this magpie next to the road as I was preparing to head for home. The magpie didn’t fly off as I expected and I noticed that it had something in its bill, so I stopped for a closer look through my lens. At first I thought it was a peanut in the shell but it soon became apparent that it was a praying mantis egg case, along with some plant debris.<\/p>\n

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\"black-billed<\/p>\n

1\/1600, f\/7.1, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon<\/em> EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/p>\n

Here’s a better look at the egg case from a different angle. Over the years I’ve seen magpies with an almost endless variety of food items but for me this was something new and I thought it was interesting enough to post a couple of documentary photos, even though they’re huge crops.<\/p>\n

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And speaking of magpie diets (and complex behaviors), here’s a little natural history snippet from Cornell’s Birds of the World that I find hugely interesting. It’s a bit of a read but I highly recommend wading through it to the end. It’s definitely worth it.<\/p>\n