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Old 15-10-2004, 02:54 AM
gromit
 
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On Tue, 12 Oct 2004 11:14:03 +1000, in aus.gardens
len gardener posted:

[snip]

has anyone else ever expereinced magpies actually hurting each other
to the point of death?

that's nature, that's life i guess.


I am by no means an ornithologist, but I have observed elsewhere in
nature that you get some animals (magpies in your case) which are more
aggressive that the average. I have seen this in the odd magpie that
swoop regardless of whether it's nesting season or not.

I'm not sure if these birds have testosterone or an equivalent
hormone, but I'd say there is a super aggressive bird (with a high
level of such a hormone) living in one of those territories. If you've
not seen it before suggests this is a young bird or an intruder
asserting itself to establish territory.

I'm really only guessing, but this is what comes to mind without any
direct observation.

--
Phil
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