Mobbing magpies (1 Viewer)

[gerald762]

There are a lot of Iberian magpies here (SW Spain) and I have recently seen some interesting behaviour. When a threat appears, Buzzard or Raven so far, the magpies mob it. Not just one or two but 10-15 of them. it appears to be a flock reaction rather than an individual or pair reaction. Is this normal for other birds as well? Or is it just these magpies?

 

[Richard Prior]

There are a lot of Iberian magpies here (SW Spain) and I have recently seen some interesting behaviour. When a threat appears, Buzzard or Raven so far, the magpies mob it. Not just one or two but 10-15 of them. it appears to be a flock reaction rather than an individual or pair reaction. Is this normal for other birds as well? Or is it just these magpies?

Hi Gerald,
You’ll find that they have only certain species that they see as dangerous and (if they’re like Carrion Crows for example) will have a different type of alarm call when they detect one in the vicinity- this brings in other birds to help see off the threat bird which thus makes it a ‘mob’. Where we live the crows make a sort of croaking alarm call when a Buzzard or Raven appears in their territory but usually it’s just one (or two if they’re a pair) and never more. However if a single crow spots a Goshawk perched in a tree or flying by, the call is completely different, a loud, harsh repeated almost Rook-like ‘caw’ which pulls in other crows from quite a distance, they then either pursue the Goshawk (at a respectable distance!) or perch in nearby trees to observe the threat, still making their special ‘Gos alert’ call.
I believe your Iberian magpies also see Great Spotted Cuckoo as a threat -not one that they regard as a potential attacker but because they lay their egg in the magpie’s nest, I would guess that they will make a different sounding alarm in that case and I wonder if they get into a gang to mob it….

 

[gerald762]

Thanks Richard, I will keep my eyes open in case a Great spotted cuckoo shows up. The magpies were surprisely brave and aggresive, getting very close to the Buzzard or Raven. When the Buzzard/Raven flys away the magpies pursue very closely. I haven't been able to detect any difference in the magpies alarm call but I will try to listen more carefully!