I couldn’t help but notice Black-billed Magpies (Pica hudsonia) here in Denver, Colorado, which I am visiting on a short business trip. The magpies are loud and boisterous, even in the area of my hotel just off of a major road.
It’s particularly nice to encounter these attractive birds because we don’t see them at all in Virginia. As is usually the case when I am travelling for business, I took these photos with a little Canon point-and-shoot and not my regular DSLR.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
I think they are attractive too. I would not mind having them here, although places that have them don’t always think very highly of them. I guess the grass always looks greener on the other side of the fence. Are they louder than grackles?
I only saw a few magpies, so it’s hard to tell how loud they would be if there were a lot of them in one place. I am much more familiar with grackles, though, and can testify to the fact that they make a tremendous racket. It is definitely true that “ordinary” is a geographically-based concept–part of the attraction of the magpies for me was that I had never seen one before.
I didn’t know they had white on them, even though Heckle and Jeckle, the cartoon magpies, had white breasts.
I really like the bird on the wire shot. I like lines and I like birds and I like black and white – got ’em all there.
Thanks, Dan. Although I usually prefer to take my images of birds in more natural locations, I like the way that this one turned out.
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Nice shots with your “point and shoot”. Does this mean you’ll get a chance to drive up into the Rockies for a hike? I imagine the wildflowers are pretty nice this time of year.
I’m heading back to Virginia this morning. This trip was way too short.
Regarding my camera, I think it may be time to upgrade my travel camera–a 4x zoom is less than optimal for taking shots of birds. 🙂