magpie under attack (1 Viewer)

[Nannyjay]

Last week was at the Hainault FCP Chigwell Row after having a stroll around we went back to the car, sat & watched wildlife perform.
My surprise was watching two magpies (a couple) as they had been mating, sticking with each other closely, when out of nowhere two corvids flew down and attacked one of them, didn't kill it, just beat it up.
It carried on for about 3/4 mins before taking to the nearby tree when other magpies & corvids joined in, that lasted for about 10-15 mins.
Can anyone explain this behaviour please.
The bullied magpie wasn't injured before the attack, nor did it look sick, in fact quite fit & well, not to sure about afterwards.

Photos are somewhere.
Oh yes, attached files, if anyone can explain the behaviour and what type of corvids these are, pretty please, I've asked quite a few people but there seems to be some conflict as to what they are. please help unravel the confusion - thank you all in advance.

 

[Steve Schoech]

Isn't it a carrion crow ... seems the only possibility based on the pics. It may have been an oportunistic predation attempt. I know that corvids will take other birds (actually, almost anything) given the chance. I know that Florida Scrub-Jays have been documented to have killed and eaten a mockingbird. I've observed them almost taking a mocking bird that was not paying attention as it was in a fight with its neighboring counterpart.

 

[Nannyjay]

magpie attack

Hi Steve,
I'm really not sure if its a carrion crow, raven, rook, or mutant. They all look the same to me.

I know its a lot bigger than the magpie, its black & horrid. I really don't like these types of birds. However I do enjoy the magpies, jays & choughs, whenever I get to see them.

They did not kill the magpie, just bullied it, but why, do they do this sort of thing for fun, or are they honeing up hunting skills?:eek!:

 

[ChrisKten]

Images are very small, but it looks like Carrion Crows, which are great birds to watch. They're highly intelligent, probably the most intelligent bird species.

Crows and Magpies compete for the same food, which is basically anything edible. They also eat each others eggs/young given half a chance. So they don't tolerate one another easily; each will kill the other if they can. It's not "bullying", just fighting for survival.

I suppose it's a bit like Lions and Cheetahs, as they also compete for similar prey (IIRC).

EDIT: I forgot to say that they'll still cooperate in mobbing predators. They often gang up on Kestrels and Sparrowhawks.

 

[Nannyjay]

Magpies attacked

Thanks ChrisKten
I've experienced crows & magpies joining forces when a harris hawk landed in the trees in my back garden.
In fact it was there screeching & squawking that alerted me to the beautiful B.O.P, I managed to take some pics before it flew off, when it did the magpies & black corvids joined in the attack to move it on.
Very impressive. Made my day that did.

Yes I can understand the anology of lions v cheetahs, describes it perfectly.

Sorry about the pics though I do have them up on flickr where they can be seen enlarged. I tried to put a bigger pic up but it wouldn't allow me to do that. the link is: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nannyj54/
also theBBC autumnwatch group
Thanks again