24 July 2020

Feathers

Magpies visit our lawn. They are characterful birds - intelligent, argumentative and always on the lookout for feeding opportunities. They were revered by some Native American tribes and indeed in some Chinese cultures too. As an aside, I hope that the terms "tribes" and "cultures" are not classed as rampantly racist these days. You never know.

When I pulled back the curtains yesterday morning, I noticed three magpie feathers by our sheep - Beau and Peep. Later, I collected them. On one side the feathers appear black as shown in the top picture but on the other side the feathers appear iridescent in certain lights - like petroleum in a puddle.

One scientific observer said this of magpie feathers:-

One's first view of a magpie is that of a black-and-white bird (a member of the crow family). But when a magpie feather lay on a trail I frequently walk, and the angle between the Sun and the feather with my eyeline was just right, I observed a multi-coloured rainbow. These iridescent colours are caused by the diffraction of sunlight by the barbules at the tips of the bird's feather, which contain tiny platelets. The platelets interfere with the light rays to produce the metallic colouration. Because these platelets are likely all close in size, the colours that result are particularly bright.

Well, I tried my best to capture that iridescence in the second two pictures but what I would really like to know is this: Why has natural evolution through countless millennia given magpies beautiful tail feathers like these?  We can admire the iridescence but what is its purpose? Perhaps someone out there knows or can at least offer a theory.

25 comments:

  1. Magpies are almost my favourite birds - almost, because they can make such a racket that gets on my nerves.
    You have captured the iridescence well. Of course I can offer no learned theory as to the why, but I suppose everything that has evolved and withstood the test of time (they are far, far older than us, as a species) is there for a good reason. Maybe it simply enhances their visibility, useful when looking for a mate or claiming territory. Maybe it does something to their flying skill, or ability to repel rain drops.

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    Replies
    1. I guess it is possibly and accidental side-product of water-proofing.

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  2. Starlings are similar, wonder if it is to do with black feathers. The range of brightly coloured birds across the world is extraordinary, and it is often the male out to show his beautiful feathers off, whilst the female can often be more dowdy.
    Reflect on the male/female human in the same light, reversal?

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    1. Not at all. The women round her are dowdy. I notice this as I walk to the pub in my rainbow coloured suit, pink sombrero and red stiletto heels.

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  3. Do you salute when you see a Magpie YP? I do. I use to watch Magpie on ITV. It was like Blue Peter with hippy presenters.

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    1. My parents wouldn't allow us to watch ITV.

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  4. I am not a fan of magpies generally, mainly because of their habit of raiding the nests of smaller birds (which I know they have to do to feed their own young, but horrible anyway). However, they are very handsome creatures and those feathers are quite beautiful. Are the males and females alike in their colouration?

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    1. The most noticeable physical difference between male and female magpies is the colouration of the white hoods located on their necks and the backs of their heads. On male magpies, the hood is a vibrant white throughout; the hood on female magpies is greyish toward the bottom. It is a tiny difference.

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  5. Different spin you put on magpies, normally depicted as what, in the motherland, is known as "die diebische Elster". A thief by another name. Attracted to anything that glitters. Rogue.

    U

    I will not refer to Rossini. I'll leave that to our very own Hamel(d).

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  6. I don't think the maggies here have any iridescent parts. I went on a quick Google search to find out the reasons for iridescence and it appears nobody is quite sure of it's function but waterproofing, attractiveness and camouflage are all possibilities.

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    1. As Carol from Cairns says below, your magpies are what that Trump thing would call "fake"!

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  7. If framed these feathers would enhance the walls of any study. The comments are all very interesting.
    I see the titles of short stories:
    A Thief By Any Other Name, The Reasons For Iridescence, Beau And Peep, Colouration, A Vibrant White, Black Feathers, Salute A Magpie, Visibility, I Will Not Refer To Rossini.

    Maybe I'm tripping, but I seem to have stumbled on to a cyberspace writing group.
    Which one of you is Gordon Lish?
    How would Lish have edited Darwin's Origin of Species?

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  8. Seduce The World: Gordon Lish's Workshop.
    Carla Blumenkranz. February 20 2014. The New Yorker.

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  9. The beginning of your post sums it up. Magpies are an interesting critter. They are also a nuisance. there are lots of them here and they are very noisy with their young begging for food.

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    1. I have heard that they like to eat birders!

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  10. I assume it's just another way for the bird to attract attention and therefore a mate. Just as peacock feathers are so spectacular, a magpie's are too in their own way.

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  11. I chase magpies out of the garden because I don't like the way they treat other birds. I remember that the Australian magpie has a very distinctive song.

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    1. Is there a photo of you chasing magpies? I suspect that they bob up to the nearest bough and laugh!

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  12. I like magpies. They're noisy, smart and live in large family groups. I looked up why they have long tails, I assumed sex but one theory is that it allows them to turn quickly and avoid predators. Who knows.

    The feathers are beautiful.

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    Replies
    1. I just don't get why they have that colour. Nobody seems to know.

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  13. The birds called magpies in Australia are, however, not related to the magpies in the rest of the world (see Australian magpie).

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    1. I wonder what the native Australian people called them.

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    2. Different indigenous mobs will have different names for things. Here is an article that refer to the name that the Noongar people of Western Australia gave them. https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/magpies-have-chortled-since-the-very-first-dawn-20130307-2fmo5.html

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  14. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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