The name magpie splits itself into two parts.The last part,'pie'comes from'pied',in this case referring to the black and white plumage.The bird was originally known as 'the pie',but in the 16thC,'mag',meaning chatter was added to the front,making 'chatter-pied' or magpie.They are highly social,can mimic other birds,and can be taught to solve puzzles to gain rewards.
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@carolmw - we have both Butcherbirds and Magpies and also the smaller Shrikes, all black and white birds. The amount of black on these birds was determined by how long they sat in a fire during the dreamtime... the Magpies and Shrikes being fast birds flew away quickly and had streaks of black on them, but the butcherbirds checked to make sure their friends were okay so they have an entire black head, and the Crows and Ravens sat around going Cawww cawww cawww and then slowly flew away.
@foxsparrow - Thank you Ann... I forget why there was a dreamtime fire, I think it was because the Magpie woke someone up early in the morning with their noisy carolling, back when all the birds were white. The Egrets took flight straight away, the Pelicans and Jabiru lazily took to the sky, the Cockatoos were gone in a flash, but yeah, the crows just sat there going cawww cawwww cawww.
@bobfoto Love your narrative here !