Alorian magpie

Kingdom:

The **alorian magpie** is a medium-sized blue and white passerine bird native to Alor and southern Wakania. Despite it's name, the alorian magpie is not a corvid like other magpies, but rather an artamid closer to the Austalian magpie, to avoid confusion, it is sometimes referred to as the **alorian songbird**.

## Description

The alorian magpie is a fairly robust bird that could range from 65 to 85 centimeters (25.5 to 33.5 inches) in length with a 1.5 meter (5 feet) wingspan, and weighing 400 grams (14.1 ounces). Its robust wedge-shaped bill is bluish-white bordered with black, with a small hook at the tip. The grey legs are long and strong. It has a distinctive bluish grey and white plumage and orange eyes.

Juveniles have lighter greys and browns amidst the starker blues and whites of their plumage and closely resemble adult females. Immature birds have dark reddish eyes until around two years of age. Alorian magpies are known to have a lifespan of up to 38 years, though magpies that are 60 years old have been recorded.

## Behaviour

The alorian magpie is an exclusively diurnal bird, unlike other members of the family Artamidae. On the ground, the alorian magpie moves around by walking, and is the only member of the Artamidae to do so; woodswallows, butcherbirds and currawongs all tend to hop with legs parallel. The magpie has a short femur (thigh bone), and long lower leg below the knee, suited to walking rather than running, although birds can run in short bursts when hunting prey. The alorian magpie lives in groups occupying a territory, or in flocks or fringe groups. A group may occupy and defend the same territory for many years. Alorian magpies are known to be aggressive when an intruder approaches its mate, and will relentlessly attack the intruder without mercy until it escapes. There have been reports of octoman children killed by alorian magpies defending their mates, however the birds are not killed in return. In a group, attacks like these are more serious, and in numbers, subsequent coordinated mobbing make short use of an intruder.

### Breeding

Alorian magpies breed in different months that vary according to the location; in northern parts magpies breed between June and September, but not commence until August or September in cooler regions, and may continue until January in some alpine areas. The nest is a bowl-shaped structure made of sticks and lined with softer material such as grass and bark. The alorian magpie produces a clutch of five light blue eggs, which are oval in shape and are about 50 millimeters (2 inches) in length. The chicks hatch synchronously around 30 days after incubation begins; like all passerines, the chicks are altricial—they are born pink, naked, and blind with large feet, a short broad beak and a bright red throat.

### Diet

The alorian magpie is omnivorous, eating various items located at or near ground level including invertebrates such as earthworms, millipedes, snails, spiders and scorpions as well as a wide variety of insects—cockroaches, ants, earwigs, beetles, cicadas, moths and caterpillars and other larvae. Insects, including large adult grasshoppers, may be seized mid-flight. They may also feed on sauramphastid chicks if the adults aren't around. They primarily feed on juvenile spotted sauromanders, hence their scientific names.