{"id":15820,"date":"2013-06-03T04:00:12","date_gmt":"2013-06-03T10:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=15820"},"modified":"2013-06-02T05:30:58","modified_gmt":"2013-06-02T11:30:58","slug":"black-billed-magpie-fledglings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2013\/06\/03\/black-billed-magpie-fledglings\/","title":{"rendered":"Black-billed Magpie Fledglings"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I’ve been watching a Black-billed Magpie nest in a greasewood bush on Antelope Island all spring but the adults are very spooky and always fly off as I approach (the nest is very near a road and I stay in my vehicle on the road).\u00a0 But I’ve been looking forward to seeing the fledglings and I finally got a good look at all five of them last week.\u00a0 Clutch size can very from 1 – 9 eggs so you never know how many youngsters will show up when the fledglings emerge from the nest.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/black-billed-magpie-3060-ron-dudley.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"15821\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2013\/06\/03\/black-billed-magpie-fledglings\/black-billed-magpie-3060-ron-dudley\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/black-billed-magpie-3060-ron-dudley.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,742\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"5.6","credit":"RON DUDLEY","camera":"Canon EOS 7D","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1369898434","copyright":"","focal_length":"700","iso":"800","shutter_speed":"0.00125","title":""}\" data-image-title=\"black billed magpie 3060 ron dudley\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/black-billed-magpie-3060-ron-dudley-300x247.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/black-billed-magpie-3060-ron-dudley.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-15821\" alt=\"black billed magpie 3060 ron dudley\" src=\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/black-billed-magpie-3060-ron-dudley.jpg\" width=\"900\" height=\"742\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/black-billed-magpie-3060-ron-dudley.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/black-billed-magpie-3060-ron-dudley-300x247.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/black-billed-magpie-3060-ron-dudley-150x123.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/black-billed-magpie-3060-ron-dudley-400x329.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><strong>\u00a01\/800, f\/5.6, ISO 800, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc, natural light<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0These young birds were just beginning to fly and they spent a lot of time exercising their muscles and developing their flight skills as they went from perch to perch.\u00a0 Here you can see a sibling in the background.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/black-billed-magpie-3090-ron-dudley.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"15822\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2013\/06\/03\/black-billed-magpie-fledglings\/black-billed-magpie-3090-ron-dudley\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/black-billed-magpie-3090-ron-dudley.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,720\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"5.6","credit":"RON DUDLEY","camera":"Canon EOS 7D","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1369898495","copyright":"","focal_length":"700","iso":"800","shutter_speed":"0.00125","title":""}\" data-image-title=\"black billed magpie 3090 ron dudley\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/black-billed-magpie-3090-ron-dudley-300x240.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/black-billed-magpie-3090-ron-dudley.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-15822\" alt=\"black billed magpie 3090 ron dudley\" src=\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/black-billed-magpie-3090-ron-dudley.jpg\" width=\"900\" height=\"720\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/black-billed-magpie-3090-ron-dudley.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/black-billed-magpie-3090-ron-dudley-300x240.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/black-billed-magpie-3090-ron-dudley-150x120.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/black-billed-magpie-3090-ron-dudley-400x320.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u00a0<em><strong>\u00a01\/800, f\/5.6, ISO 800, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc, natural light<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">This one gave me a nice, leisurely wing stretch before it…<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/black-billed-magpie-3106-ron-dudley.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"15823\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2013\/06\/03\/black-billed-magpie-fledglings\/black-billed-magpie-3106-ron-dudley\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/black-billed-magpie-3106-ron-dudley.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,677\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"5.6","credit":"RON DUDLEY","camera":"Canon EOS 7D","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1369898541","copyright":"","focal_length":"700","iso":"800","shutter_speed":"0.001","title":""}\" data-image-title=\"black billed magpie 3106 ron dudley\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/black-billed-magpie-3106-ron-dudley-300x225.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/black-billed-magpie-3106-ron-dudley.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-15823\" alt=\"black billed magpie 3106 ron dudley\" src=\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/black-billed-magpie-3106-ron-dudley.jpg\" width=\"900\" height=\"677\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/black-billed-magpie-3106-ron-dudley.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/black-billed-magpie-3106-ron-dudley-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/black-billed-magpie-3106-ron-dudley-150x112.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/black-billed-magpie-3106-ron-dudley-400x300.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u00a0<em><strong>\u00a01\/800, f\/5.6, ISO 800, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc, natural light<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0flew off to the next perch.\u00a0 The large gapes of these fledglings are very apparent at this\u00a0stage, especially…<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/black-billed-magpie-3124-ron-dudley.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"15824\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2013\/06\/03\/black-billed-magpie-fledglings\/black-billed-magpie-3124-ron-dudley\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/black-billed-magpie-3124-ron-dudley.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,703\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"5.6","credit":"RON DUDLEY","camera":"Canon EOS 7D","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1369898626","copyright":"","focal_length":"700","iso":"800","shutter_speed":"0.000625","title":""}\" data-image-title=\"black billed magpie 3124 ron dudley\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/black-billed-magpie-3124-ron-dudley-300x234.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/black-billed-magpie-3124-ron-dudley.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-15824\" alt=\"black billed magpie 3124 ron dudley\" src=\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/black-billed-magpie-3124-ron-dudley.jpg\" width=\"900\" height=\"703\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/black-billed-magpie-3124-ron-dudley.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/black-billed-magpie-3124-ron-dudley-300x234.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/black-billed-magpie-3124-ron-dudley-150x117.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/black-billed-magpie-3124-ron-dudley-400x312.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u00a0<em><strong>\u00a01\/1000, f\/5.6, ISO 800, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc, natural light<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0when one of the parents flies near and they start begging for food.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/black-billed-magpie-3129-ron-dudley.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"15825\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2013\/06\/03\/black-billed-magpie-fledglings\/black-billed-magpie-3129-ron-dudley\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/black-billed-magpie-3129-ron-dudley.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,743\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"5.6","credit":"RON DUDLEY","camera":"Canon EOS 7D","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1369898627","copyright":"","focal_length":"700","iso":"800","shutter_speed":"0.000625","title":""}\" data-image-title=\"black billed magpie 3129 ron dudley\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/black-billed-magpie-3129-ron-dudley-300x247.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/black-billed-magpie-3129-ron-dudley.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-15825\" alt=\"black billed magpie 3129 ron dudley\" src=\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/black-billed-magpie-3129-ron-dudley.jpg\" width=\"900\" height=\"743\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/black-billed-magpie-3129-ron-dudley.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/black-billed-magpie-3129-ron-dudley-300x247.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/black-billed-magpie-3129-ron-dudley-150x123.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/black-billed-magpie-3129-ron-dudley-400x330.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u00a0<em><strong>\u00a01\/1600, f\/5.6, ISO 800, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc, natural light<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0Here you can see the wing of one of the adults as it flew by from right to left and the reaction of the young bird as it screamed for something to eat.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/black-billed-magpie-3131-ron-dudley.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"15826\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2013\/06\/03\/black-billed-magpie-fledglings\/black-billed-magpie-3131-ron-dudley\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/black-billed-magpie-3131-ron-dudley.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"720,900\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"5.6","credit":"RON DUDLEY","camera":"Canon EOS 7D","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1369898666","copyright":"","focal_length":"700","iso":"800","shutter_speed":"0.001","title":""}\" data-image-title=\"black billed magpie 3131 ron dudley\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/black-billed-magpie-3131-ron-dudley-240x300.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/black-billed-magpie-3131-ron-dudley.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-15826\" alt=\"black billed magpie 3131 ron dudley\" src=\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/black-billed-magpie-3131-ron-dudley.jpg\" width=\"720\" height=\"900\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/black-billed-magpie-3131-ron-dudley.jpg 720w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/black-billed-magpie-3131-ron-dudley-240x300.jpg 240w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/black-billed-magpie-3131-ron-dudley-120x150.jpg 120w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/black-billed-magpie-3131-ron-dudley-400x500.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u00a0<em><strong>\u00a01\/1000, f\/5.6, ISO 800, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc, natural light<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>This is one of the adults as it takes a rest and watches over the family.<\/p>\n<p>It’s an understatement to say that some folks don’t like magpies (though I’m in a different camp).\u00a0 They’re raucous, bold, smart, opportunistic\u00a0and aggressive.\u00a0 Learned behaviors of an individual bird\u00a0often spread to the entire flock (called “cultural transmission) so their\u00a0tendency to peck at saddle sores on horses or mules (sometimes to the point that the animals died),\u00a0prey on eggs of poultry, songbirds and\u00a0upland game birds and rob traplines made them quite unpopular.\u00a0 Lewis and Clark\u00a0even reported in their journals that magpies stole food out of their tents and ate from their hands.\u00a0\u00a0 They were persecuted as vermin\u00a0and a bounty was paid for their eggs and decapitated heads for many years.<\/p>\n<p>A confession:\u00a0 many years ago (before I retired) magpies built a nest in a large tree\u00a0just a few feet from my\u00a0home.\u00a0 They were so loud, beginning\u00a0very early in the morning, that I lost many hours of sleep in the springtime\u00a0and then when the chicks fledged things got even worse.\u00a0 So late that fall I removed the nest – a task that wasn’t easy because it was high up in the tree.\u00a0 That was an act that I regret to this day.\u00a0 I actually miss their antics –\u00a0including their propensity to torment the cats of my neighbor by sneaking up behind them on the lawn and pulling their tails.\u00a0 Now magpies are nesting in a Blue Spruce across the street – too far away for me to really enjoy their behaviors but\u00a0close enough to remind me every day\u00a0of my short-sightedness.<\/p>\n<p>Another lesson learned…<\/p>\n<p>Ron<\/p>\n<p><em>Note:\u00a0 I\u2019ll be out of town\u00a0for a few days this week with no computer access and a\u00a0limited and unreliable cell phone signal so I\u2019ll likely\u00a0get\u00a0any comments you may leave (via email) but I won\u2019t be able to respond to them until I return.<\/em><\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I’ve been watching a Black-billed Magpie nest in a greasewood bush on Antelope Island all spring but the adults are very spooky and always fly off as I approach (the nest is very near a road and I stay in my vehicle on the road). But I’ve been looking forward to seeing the fledglings and I finally got a good look at all five of them last week. <\/p>\n<p> <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2013\/06\/03\/black-billed-magpie-fledglings\/\"><span>Continue reading<\/span><i class=\"crycon-right-dir\"><\/i><\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15824,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,4,334,363,391],"tags":[31,57,772,89,1487,145,1486,802,228,1489,610,1488],"class_list":["post-15820","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island","category-bird-behaviors","category-birds","category-black-billed-magpies","category-nesting-and-mating","tag-antelope-island-2","tag-black-billed-magpie","tag-bounty","tag-clutch","tag-cultural-transmission","tag-fledgling","tag-gape","tag-lewis-and-clark","tag-nest","tag-nest-removal","tag-pica-hudsonia","tag-vermin"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/black-billed-magpie-3124-ron-dudley.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1zzJh-47a","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15820","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15820"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15820\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}