I normally don’t post goofy stuff, but I’m finding Australian local news has a very dry and self depricating humor I enjoy.
Article from UPI
A new South Wales, Australia, man attempted to keep birds away from his cat’s food with a homemade owl sculpture, but “accidentally made a magpie god.”
Giulio Cuzzilla said he learned that magpies can be deterred with owl sculptures, but he didn’t want to spend a lot of money on one, so he made his own out of paper mache and feathers.
“I now know it doesn’t really look like an owl, but a dead cat rather,” Cuzzilla wrote in a comment under his TikTok video.
He said the magpies initially seemed to fear his sculpture, but they eventually started to approach it and engage in behaviors Cuzzilla said seemed like “worship.”
“I accidentally made a magpie god,” he wrote.
Gisela Kaplan, an emeritus professor in animal behavior at the University of New England, said the magpies in the video aren’t actually showing deference to the owl sculpture, they are making territorial calls to try to scare it away.
Cuzzilla said the magpie god’s reign came to an end when a storm dismantled the idol. He said he has now grown a fondness for the magpies.
“When you observe their antics, you can’t help but find them quite cute,” he wrote. “We even named one of the babies Ricky.”
@anon6789 good grief, you’re right! I never expected to learn more about our owls! Thank you!
Apparently they probably arrived in the landing gear of jet planes.
I was absolutely horrified to learn this, but according to the article they don’t pose a threat to ruru.
Then again this blog makes the point that some conservationists have reservations about them in case they start eating our endemic birds and I don’t like that they have been eating fernbirds.
That was a really good article! I’m glad they’re getting along well with the Moreporks.
I thought I had read before they had made it over there, but I’m looking for these types of articles every day. I knew they were essentially everywhere since they are so adaptable, and I have no doubt they will be the first owl in Antarctica with the way things are going.