Magpie & Jay
©ImageBroker/Imagebroker/FLPA
According to the well-known rhyme, a lone magpie is a sign of sorrow.
Of all our garden birds, surely none is so controversial as the two most striking members of the crow family: the magpie and the jay. The magpie is the pantomime villain of our garden birds, seen as a thief who takes eggs and chicks from nests, and also steals shiny trinkets and jewellery. With the possible exception of the sparrowhawk, no other bird comes close in the league table of Britain’s most hated birds. And its reputation spreads far and wide – there is a famous Italian opera titled The Thieving Magpie.
Now that the widespread persecution of all birds is a thing of the past, the magpie population has reasserted itself. The species’ habit of travelling in large, noisy flocks doesn’t help its reputation either. Magpies are not subtle birds, and so we perhaps notice their presence more than we would other predators.
Magpies have adapted very well to living in our gardens. By encouraging smaller birds to feed and nest, we have created a ready supply of food for them and their hungry chicks. And this is surely the point. Just like any other creature, magpies must feed themselves and their offspring. After all, we don’t condemn blue tits for killing and eating thousands of caterpillars, do we?
What is important to realise is that the population of any predator goes up and down depending on the availability of its prey, and not the other way around. Magpies are in no way responsible for the declines of some of our songbird species. Indeed, most garden birds are actually on the increase. It is birds of the wider countryside that are in decline. So why not take a closer look at a magpie, forget any prejudices you might have, and just appreciate what a truly beautiful creature it is? Superficially ‘black and white’, the magpie’s plumage is in fact a subtle mixture of deep greens and blues, and the iridescent feathers are set off by those patches of brilliant white. Magpies are also fascinating to watch, especially early in the year when they collect twigs with which to make their untidy and often obvious nest in the fork of a bare tree. And try to recall that childhood rhyme, ‘One for sorrow, two for joy…’, which was borrowed by the makers of the celebrated children’s TV series Magpie, and which has been sung by generations of British children.
Jays are even more beautiful than their black and white cousins, but, being much shyer birds, they are not quite as familiar. One Victorian birdwatcher and writer described the jay as ‘Britain’s bird-of-paradise’, and Bill Oddie always claims that if someone says they have seen a really unusual bird in their garden, nine times out of ten it is a jay. That pinkish-brown plumage, set off with black and white and a small patch of blue on the wings, those black markings on the side of the face, and the jaunty crest, make the jay one of our most attractive garden birds. However, it must be said that it has the same habit of taking eggs and chicks of songbirds as the magpie, but as it is a lot subtler about doing so, we don’t usually see it happening.
Jays are originally woodland birds but have learned to thrive in our towns and cities, especially those with large, mature trees where the birds can make their nests. Numbers are boosted every autumn with invading jays from continental Europe, which in some ‘invasion years’ may arrive in huge, noisy flocks. Listen out for the jay’s ‘tearing muslin’ call as it competes with the machine-gun rattle of the magpie – the winter soundtrack in our gardens and suburbs.
©Malcolm Schuyl/FLPA
Seen well, the jay is one of our most handsome and colourful birds.
©Erica Olsen/FLPA
Magpies are opportunistic feeders, seeking out food wherever they go.
©ImageBroker/Imagebroker/FLPA
©Erica Olsen/FLPA
Green and great spotted woodpeckers are both thriving, and often visit gardens.
Britain has only three species of woodpecker, which are really quite different from each other. Most obviously, they differ in size: the green woodpecker is the size of a pigeon; the great spotted, the size of a large blackbird; and the tiny lesser spotted is barely the size of a great tit (and therefore very difficult to see!).
Woodpeckers are more commonly heard than seen, with the characteristic drumming of the male most often experienced in woods in late winter and early spring. The drumming is either a signal to rival males and potential mates, or the sound made while excavating a nest hole. Woodpeckers seem to make rather less noise when feeding.
Headbanging at up to 40 beats per second is obviously hard work, so woodpeckers have several special adaptations to cope with this behaviour. They have very strong neck muscles, and soft, spongy tissue around the base of their bill, which absorbs much of the force created by drumming. In addition, they have very sharp claws on their feet, and stiffened tail feathers, which enable them to climb up and down tree trunks, as well as hold on tightly when drumming. Woodpeckers also have very long, needle-like tongues, so long that the tongue is actually coiled up inside the skull. The tip of the tongue is also barbed, so is the ideal tool for getting at insect grubs buried deep in trees.
The green woodpecker is quite distinctive, both in size and colouring. They are usually first spotted sitting in the middle of a large grassy area. When they fly away, they flash their bright yellow rump and make their distinct laughing call – a ‘yaffle’. The sound of all woodpeckers is traditionally meant to signify the coming of rain, hence the name ‘rainbird’.
Telling the two species of spotted woodpecker apart can be trickier. The key difference is, of course, size, but recalling the older names for these species can also help identification. The great spotted, whose plumage shows large, contrasting patches of black and white, used to be known as the ‘pied woodpecker’, while the lesser spotted was called the ‘barred woodpecker’, as its black and white markings are less distinctive. And remember that two other tree-climbing species, the blue-grey nuthatch and the browner treecreeper, can be confused with the lesser spotted, especially if you get only brief views.
The best way to find the two black and white woodpeckers is to listen for their calls or drumming, especially in late winter and early spring. As well as drumming, the great spotted also makes a distinctive, metallic ‘chip’ sound. If you do hear a woodpecker, try to pinpoint the direction of the sound, and then scan up tree trunks and along branches with binoculars to find the bird itself. Early in the year, when there are fewer leaves on the trees to obscure your view, is the best time to look. In winter, there is a chance of finding a lesser spotted woodpecker by looking closely at roving flocks of tits. As they roam a wood looking for food, lesser spotted woodpeckers sometimes tag along behind them.
Our three woodpeckers have experienced very different fortunes over the past few decades. While numbers of great spotted and green woodpeckers are on the rise, the lesser spotted population has been in freefall. Fifty years ago, they were common and widespread in England and Wales, but today there are just 2,000 pairs in the UK, mostly in ancient woodlands in the south.
Meanwhile,
