Juvenile Oriental Magpie

Juvenile Oriental Magpie (Pica serica, 普通喜鵲).

Spring is my favourite season for exploring the natural world in Hunan. While I am preparing for new flora and fauna I have been sorting through some old photos. Last spring, especially through April and May, I could often hear this magpie and its mother squawking to each other along the river mudflats. Like most young birds, it is awkward-looking but the metallic green and purples tail feathers were striking. I believe it is still around its old haunts, though now it is fully grown.

Predatory Magpies

On many occasions I have found toad skins in the mudflats of the Xiang river and wondered whether it was magpies, egrets or other culprits have been eating their insides before discarding the poisonous skins. After reviewing some old photographs I noticed that I had captured an oriental magpie (pica serica, 喜鹊) in the act of catching toad at Taozi lake last April.

Last month I observed an azure-winged magpie (cyanopica cyanus, 灰喜鹊) catch a rat in the grasses near the Xiang river. Magpies of all kinds are fascinating to observe and certainly innovative in their acquisition of grub.