Photo-a-Day  (Tuesday, 15th October, 2024)

Most unusual David, perhaps a sign of evolution at work. I wonder if it is accepted by other Magpies as any deviation in colour birds often attack anything strange.
I bet some ornithologists would be interested to see this, you might be inundated with Twitchers!

There are a couple of Magpies which are always scurrying across the top of the bungalow, Yesterday one landed on top of the bird table and it was amusing to see it trying to get at the food on the table.I fitted some Dowling bars in-between the table and the roof to stop cats jumping onto the table. We think Magpies are Black in colour but they have dark blue and grey plumage also.It must be a rarity to see a Brown one and I wonder how it goes on in nature?

That must be very unusual David, have you looked it up at all ?
Nice looking bird & its good you got a shot of it.

Just had a look at a Bird Forum. In England there are several sightings of 'brown ' magpies in southern areas but people from Canada, France etc have seen them. You have a rarity in your garden David.

How unusual! He's lovely though. "Good morning, Mr. Magpie.....how's Mrs. Magpie?" It was thought unlucky not to say that when I was a child, on seeing a magpie....you had to ask about his wife or you would have bad luck.....I still do it today! And you counted them, too,.....one for sorrow, two for joy etc etc., depending on how many you saw at once. However, he's so lovely I can't think of him as "one for sorrow"; he's a joy!

Part of the Crow family - all have a large brain, hence their visual intelligence and use of tools.
Here in the North East we see many of them - the blue on their haunches is an attractive shade. Newcastle United used it as their second strip colour twenty odd years ago.
Good photo David - agree this one probably blown here from North America.

Very unusual I have never seen one.Magpies can be a pest but they are very clever birds.Watch out for twitchers.

Great photo David.
How do you keep the cats away from your garden David? I nailed a dead one to the shed door, but they still keep coming, didn’t put them off at all!

I live in Eindhoven I have
seen one or two flying about here the last few years

Good job David. Whatever the cause of its pigment condition you did well to capture the one in a million. I like the colour.

Irene if I ever bump into any magpie chap I'll ask about his Mrs, but I need someone to help how to spot the difference first ?

Hope the very unusual magpie doesn't visit Chernobyl where a certain species of frog has changed colour from green to black.

Colin ...It always seems to be with about three other normal Magpies , they seem to get on OK.
Yes I looked it up Helen Of Troy, Some magpies are brown due to a condition called leucism, which is a lack of pigmentation. Brown is one of the most common aberrations in magpies, along with leucism and dilute.
Magpies can also come in other colors, including black and white, and green or blue. The black and white magpie is the traditional magpie, and is likely related to crows and Eurasian jays. Magpies from South to East Asia are more likely to be green or blue.
So pleased everyone liked the photo, first time I've seen one , your right Colin the Twitchers will be coming from far and wide LOL

Lovely colouring very elegant teaming Camel/ Cream. Must be the fashion colour for Autumn.

For the any camera buffs , it was taken with a Tamron VR ( vibration reduction )telephoto 70-300mm F/4-5.6 using manual focus .
Then cropped it on the Nikon D3000 just to enlarge it slightly .
Thanks for leaving your comments, David.

David, just as you say, It's born with a condition called leucism whereby they suffer from a lack of pigmentation.
Although very unusual I did come across various photos and sightings as far away as Australia. Apparently there is also one called the Green Javan Magpie one of the rarest birds in the world.
Many thanks for giving me something to think about.

Great photo David I had a magpie as a pet when I was 14 it was free to go wherever it liked if you rattled a spoon in a cup with bread and milk in it would come and land on your arm waiting to be fed.Recently we have seen them taking bread from bird table and dipping in the bird bath clever birds.

DTease, you might think this strange I was plagued with cats and cat poo, especially a big ginger Tom, you could smell where it be been from the house! then I saw the YouTube video Cats and Cucumbers.
I put a couple of cucumbers down near where they tend to stroll and poo and I’ve not see one all summer.
It really does work.

Thanks Colin, I’ll give it a try.
At lease it won’t stink as bad as that dead cat did!

DTease, don't forget Watercress with a dash of Balsamic and a large portion of Wild Alaskan King Salmon alongside the Cucumber.

Wonder what it is with Cats and Cucumbers, is it a built in fear of Snakes they have? and 9 out of 10 Cats don't like them with owners putting video compilations on youtube to prove it.

https://youtu.be/oDpQ2uGLUKU?si=vnkACCHgiC34-SwM

https://youtu.be/Bx_APwsxmgk?si=xI-27wqjShE1Y295

I put down used tea bags around plants etc., and sprinkled a few drops of Citronella oil them, and replaced them every so often. That did deter Cats as they don't like the smell even though it's a pleasant aroma to us.

As Colin Traynor has checked on Google they are feather lack of pigmentation. Google is good innt it.