Birds eye view from Magnum PI
“YOUR black and white boyfriend is at the door,” my husband calls out to me and at the sliding door is a magpie named Magnum PI.
Magnum and I have been working on our friendship, it’s a give and take, I do most of the give while he does most of the take.
He’s a wild bird with a beautiful song he uses to enchant me.
We have crows too, but none of those have bothered to check in on me and say ‘gidday’ like my Mr Magnum.
Our friendship developed slowly and began when I started throwing crusts of bread onto the lawn rather than into the bin.
Birds of all species noticed and came down to eat.
It was lovely to watch but when I realised bread was bad for them, I stopped.
Around July this year I noticed a lone magpie kept seeking me out.
My desk is alongside a sliding door, and I’d hear ‘tap tap tap’ and look to see beady eyes staring me down through the glass.
I left the door open and soon enough he was eating out of my hand.
I did the right thing and I bought dried worms and fed him that and little pieces of meat.
One day while working I heard a beautiful song ring out close to me.
I turned to see Magnum inside the house and standing on one leg while looking at me with expectation.
‘What does it mean when magpies sing to you while standing on one leg” I entered as a Google search.
Well now, it seems he’s comfortable with me and sees me as a friend.
Awesome.
As a child I read stories about magpies that collected shiny things and kept them in their nest in the boughs of trees.
In the stories, children climbed a tree to recover a ring or watch for a parent.
I looked at trees and wondered if my life’s fortune lay somewhere up there waiting for me to collect it.
Turns out that is simply magpie folklore and untrue.
Magpies are intelligent and curious but more likely to be fearful of new and shiny objects than be attracted to them.
While there’s no shiny fortune in my future, I learned something during my up close and personal experiences with my magpie friend.
I’d seen Magnum break up food with his beak and eat it, then when he’d had enough, he’d gathered as much possible then waddle off.
There was a pattern and I figured he was taking the food to a safe space to continue eating.
One day, I decided to follow him to see where he was going.
He had his fill and collected the leftovers in his beak.
Tap, tap, tap … he picked up as much as he could hold, waddled down the deck and hopped up onto an outside table.
On the table, a second magpie stood squawking at him and opening its beak.
Magnum fed it and I loved that because to me, it seemed he was doing something thoughtful.
He’s in my house every day now, he walks through the sliding door because I leave it open for him.
Sometimes Magnum explores the kitchen looking for crumbs.
I leave the door open so I can better hear his song.
Lately he’s been doing more than just the magpie warble, he has a repertoire of chants and warbles.
The other day he was inside but near the door when I heard a different magpie call out and Magnum answered.
I wish I understood bird language but from my observation it seemed to be asking him to bring it food.
Magpies are smart and form long term relationships with people who show them kindness, according to the experts.
Many go on to recognise human faces for years.
More than that, they pass on the message that you’re a ‘good one’ to their family and friends, and this can continue for generations.
While there’s no shiny gems in nests, magpies are known to bring their human friends a present.
Magnum PI has started doing this for me but I don’t think he understands what a human likes because frog droppings are not on my wish list.
What he brings to the table is joy and being able to call out his name and have him fly to me is the best feeling ever.
