Ardea
Official journal of the Netherlands Ornithologists' Union

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Baeyens G. (1979) Description of the social behaviour of the Magpie Pica pica. ARDEA 67 (1-2): 28-41
A description of social behaviour of Magpies is presented based on a five-year study on a resident colour marked population. An ethogram is presented, wherein postures, movements, vocalizations and feather positions are discerned and their combinations in different contexts are described. Aggression, escape and submission, pair-formation and pair-maintenance are dealt with separately. The differences in behaviour between adults and juveniles and between males and females are given and indicate that sex can be distinguished on behavioural criteria in spring. Outside the breeding season sex determination can only occur if certain behaviour types are observed in adult birds. Since it is not always possible to distinguish adults from juveniles with certainty, some caution in assessing sex must be taken. The social interactions in 'ceremonial' gatherings could be interpreted because the status of the birds taking part was known. Usually these gatherings originate as conflicts between territory owners and individuals attempting to establish a territory, or between the latter mutually. Although pair-formation behaviour is often seen in the gatherings, only 1 of 65 observed gatherings resulted in the establishment of a new pair-bond. Pair-bond and territoriality will be analysed in detail in a following paper.


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