Summer Morning Magpie

The heat rises in waves over the fields of wheat and flowers. Bees are busy collecting pollen and the magpies too are on a quest for their daily meals. Their wings flash black against the sky as they soar to the treetops after finding their afternoon meal. They call to each other in a chorus of sound. Their call is quick, almost like a machine gun rapid fire call and response. In the distance, the occasional car can be heard on the dirt road.

Magpies are birds of the corvidae family, including the black and white Eurasian Magpie, which is one of the few animal species known to be able to recognize itself in a mirror test. Others include the Black-billed Magpie, Yellow-billed Magpie and Korean Magpie of the Pica genus, the Formosan Blue Magpie, Red-billed Blue Magpie and Gold-billed Magpie of the Urocissa and also the Common Green Magpie, Yellow-breasted Magpie, Short-tailed Magpie of the Cissa genus.