Friday, December 1, 2017
We have seen an interesting bird in Colorado that I think looks like an orca whale — well as far as his markings are concerned. He is predominantly black and white — unless viewed from the rear and then he has a lot of blues and greens in his back and tail feathers. I’ve seen him scrounging around in the grass around town looking rather like a crow. My curiosity got the best of me and I asked a local about him one day.
She laughed. “It’s a magpie.” “I’m guessing he’s a bit of a pest,” I remarked. “Yep. But they are supposed to be pretty intelligent.”
So I looked him up on the trusty Internet.
And guess what! Magpies are in the crow family! I pegged him.
And they are one of maybe two non-mammals who are able to recognize themselves in a mirror — the other being a great manta ray. This apparently is an indication of high intelligence.
I also found that varieties of magpies are found in Europe and Australia.
So now you know as much as I do about this intriguing feathered friend.
No comments:
Post a Comment