MAGPIE BEATS UP KOOKABURRA! Local feud erupts in violence – Australian birds

The birdbath is doing its usual business when the Kookaburra shows up in the mango tree and the local birds bail. A bit of a sing, a clumsy bath and the local male black-backed Australian magpie decides its time to attack. These two have issues but this was a whole new level of violence. But they share a territory...

A Blue-faced honeyeater is the first to show up for a bath and a Little friarbird joins it. They both flee when the Kooka arrives. Kookas not only rob nests of other species, they eat small birds and are pretty violent so when the Kookas are near the birdbath, it's usually empty. The Little and the Blue-face would be very large prey and are unlikely to be attacked but I understand why they don't feel comfortable with a Kooka a couple of meters above them when they're having a bath.

The magpie arrives and goes straight for the Kooka, snagging it by a tail feather mid flight. It's obviously one heck of a good grip it's got because the Kookaburra tries to fly off twice and fails both times. You can hear the beak snap as the magpie latches on. It's only when the Kooka turns around that the magpie lets go – it has to free up its beak to fight with and the Kooka flees into the treeline.

The Kooka and magpie both have a little sing is – is that the magpie victory song?

The history of the feud dates back about a month. If you are new to the channel, I turn bales of hay over and the magpies eat the insects, mainly roaches, that hide and breed there. There are quite a few bales. Sometimes there are curl grubs – beetle larvae. Magpies peck at them and eat a bit of them but Kookas LOVE them.

A magpie was under a bale when a Kooka swept in, scared off the magpie and made off with a curl grub – with a magpie in hot pursuit! That video is here:

   • Magpie/Kookaburra war starts? Bale fe...  

Our magpies – the male, at any rate – has a history of vengance. I'm not surprised he attacked the Kooka at the birdbath but the level of violence was unexpected – he didn't just chase it away, he was trying to hurt it.

In the timeline, then comes this video. Then later the same day the male was eating under a bale when he heard the Kooka sounding off in the distance. He stopped eating, listened for a bit and then took off flying 40 meters or so to attack the Kooka on a streetlight, chase it across the road and harass it. That video is here:

   • Magpie comes for a feed under a bale;...  

I prioritise hay bale videos and with all of the baths/slow motion this one was edited over a few days on top of my usual editing and work so it took a little bit to get out.

And then after the fight we get back to the normally scheduled program as the interrupted bathing resumes. The Little friarbird goes for it first – I'm sure it's still wet so it's the same one from earlier – until at 5:56 a different Blue-faced honeyeater arrives. This bird is in between juvenile and adult. The skin around the eyes changes colour from green to blue as Blue-faces reach maturity. This one is in the transition phase – a tween. I love the circle it does for no reason before it dives in.

Both magpies and kookas are territorial. They have a well-defined area they live in and defend from intruders. Their territories overlap significantly and they can't move. If they move other magpies or kookaburras will move in to this territory most likely within hours and they would have to fight – the males, at least – to try and take a territory over from another established male. So...moving is not an option and the war is likely to continue.

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0:00 Blue-face and Little friar bathing
2:00 – Kookaburra arrives
2:50 – FIGHT!
4:24 – Bathing resumes – Little friar
5:56 – Tween Blue-faced