Heard a bird in distress this morning and out the back on the grass I seen our female Australian Magpie with an Indian Mynah pinned down on the grass.
The Magpie was holding the Indian Mynah down with her foot and pecking it around the back of the head and shoulders with the Indian Mynah shrieking in distress.
This went on for about three minutes with the Magpie losing interest and just walking away casually, the Indian Mynah lay there for a couple of minutes then sat upright and eventually moved away after about 15 minutes, clearly still in shock.
Natures pecking order being established?
Magpies are always fighting things, they like to control which birds live in their territory. Ours are always fighting with the crows, and chasing the whistling kite around. They will harass any other large birds that come around, someties even our local choughs. They make sure the sulfur-crested cockatoos don't roost on my farm, for which I am very grateful.
Our Magpie family has always been so calm and relaxed, never seen agression like this from any of them. The Indian Mynah pair have gone from this area, so perhaps the Magpie has done us a favour.
Only agression I have seen with the Mapies is the leading male giving the younger fully grown male offspring a hiding now and again, part of the toughening up process father son relationship. Urging them to leave the family and make their own way in life.
I saw a Currawong do the same thing to an indian myna. I have also seen magpies attack cockatoos and pigeons. In the case of the pigeon it was a 'fly by' attack and it pecked out a great mass of feathers.
The attack has removed the Indian Mynah pair from my backyard, they haven't been seen since, Mrs Magpie has done the native inhabitants of my backyard a big favour...