One for Sorrow, Two for Joy

One for sorrow,
Two for joy,
Three for a girl,
Four for a boy,
Five for silver,
Six for gold,
Seven for a secret never to be told.

(One of the many versions of the famous nursery rhyme)

Does anyone recognize this? It's an old nursery rhyme about magpies.

Don't worry guys, I'll write about things other than birds sometime. Let's just talk about the Common Eurasian Magpie for now.

(Photo source: Feathered Photography)

The Latin name for this type of magpie is Pica Pica(Hehe.... pikachu).

It comes from the order Passeriformes and the family Corvidae.

They aren't very big, but they aren't small either; magpies are roughly the size of a big plush toy.

 Their name comes from 'Magot Pie', first used in Shakespeare's Macbeth.

Some also believe that the name magpie comes from the word 'pied', because of their patches of colour.

Eurasian magpies are black and white with a gorgeous patch of blue on their wings. You are very likely to notice that they have a few green feathers on their tails. Their beaks and feet are dark grey.

Eurasian magpies are found mainly around Europe, excluding Iceland and the very north of Scandinavia.

They are quite common in Great Britain, Belgium and Poland.

The Eurasian magpie is considered to be a bird of prey. This is debatable to some. They feed on insects and occasionally may be seen with smaller, younger birds or stolen eggs. They are very likely to eat wild bird food if you leave it out. They will feed on almost anything that is smaller than them and is edible to other animals.

Magpies, like storks from my last post, are monogamous - that means that they are mates for life. Until one dies, that is. They nest on trees.

Magpies will have around 5 - 7 eggs.

 (Photo source: Mark Carmody Photography)

If you have sheep, goats, horses or cattle - You may spot a magpie or two enjoying themselves on the backs of your animals.

You can listen to the Eurasian magpie here!

(Not my video)

Alright y'all, that's it for now! I'll see yas later.