The Australian Magpie isn’t related to the European Magpie but has its namesake due to its similar black and white plumage.  It's a large bird that was brought to New Zealand from Australia in the 1860s to help with pest control.  Now it's often trapped to try to control its population as it is often through to attack native birds.

It's advisable to keep a good distance from a Magpie nest especially during the nesting season as they sometimes do dive-bomb people. There are also stories of some taking a particular dislike to certain people and will repeatedly attack them whenever they see them, although this seems rare.

But you can’t deny the Australian Magpie is a beautiful looking creature.

They are known as great collectors and will use a strange mix of construction materials for their untidy looking nests.  The nests themselves are mainly made from large twigs but often woven with bits of wire, plastic and even fragments of smooth glass.  One was even found to have spoons entwined within it.

What do Australian Magpies eat?

Magpies only occasionally eat seed, their main diet being insects, spiders and snails. They have a particular liking for caterpillars and will dig the porina moth out of the ground. They are also very fond of large cicadas and lizards and sometimes munch on dead animals too.

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