Magpies seem to be flourishing, so much so that seeing ‘one for sorrow’ is more often closer to ’11 for a football team’. Martin Fone looks at why these hugely intelligent birds are thriving, and considers why they’re so often at the centre of our superstitions.
The magpie is one of our most distinctive wild birds with its black plumage, interspersed with white flanks, belly, and wing patches, and a long, stiff tail, which accounts for over a third of its…