Black,Billed,Magpies,The,Noisi education Black Billed Magpies - The Noisiest Bird In The West

Translation jobs are undertaken by professional translators who are well versed with at least two languages.Translation can work at two levels: inter-state or regional language translation and inter-national or foreign language translation. Some forms of parent involvement with the school such as communications with school, volunteering, attending school events and parent--parent connections appeared to have little effect on student achievement, especially in high school. Helpi

For many years I believed that the Black Billed Magpie was theMontana State bird. I was wrong, our state bird is the Meadow Lark.However, the opportunist and rather aggressive Black Billed Magpie isan icon of the American West and a welcome resident of Montana. Perhapsit should be our state bird. Like true Montanans, the magpie doesn’tflee to sunny climes to escape the winter wind, but hunkers down andrides out the storms.The magpie has other characteristics to admire. Magpies mate forlife, sharing the domestic duties of nest building and feeding andraising their young. After laying six to eight eggs, the female magpieincubates the clutch for 16 to 21 days. Both parents are attentive tothe nestlings, and they fledge when 25 to 29 days old. Magpies raise asingle brood each year. They build their nests in loose colonies,keeping their siblings and young close.Graceful in flight, these large members of the crow family are longtailed, black and white birds, approximately 20 inches in length. Inthe soft sunlight, their black wings and tail appear iridescentbluish-green in bold contrast to gleaming white wing patches.Magpie nests are large for the size of the bird - often measuring inexcess of three feet across. The nest is a spherical mass of sticks andtwigs, often adorned with found bits of colorful thread, paper orstring. Built for comfort with a mud cup lovingly lined with soft wool,hair or moss, the nest also has side entrance holes. They nest inbushes and trees at low elevations 10 to 20 feet from the ground.Like other corvids, magpies are omnivorous and opportunistic. Smallrodents, other birds, bird eggs, snakes, insects, berries, nuts andseeds are favorite fare. Magpies are not picky eaters. Magpies are nottimid and can be trained to feed from the hand. In their brave journeyacross Montana, this behavior was mentioned by Lewis and Clark in thechronicles of their adventures in 1804.Magpies serve a very important purpose in nature in that theyconsume large quantities of ticks gleaned from the bodies of deer,bison, moose and elk, especially in the early spring. Ticks are atiresome irritation to the host animals, so they most willingly submitto the magpie’s grooming attention.Historically, magpies frequently followed Native Americans and livedon the refuse of their hunts. A born thief and scavenger, magpies willalso often follow predators to clean up after their kill, feasting onmaggots as well as carrion. Native American folklore tells of themagpie leading the wolf to wounded or weak prey so that the wolf mayfinish the kill and together they may feast on the bounty.Because of their aggressive intelligence, year-round residency andhandsome plumage, magpies have long been admired favorites. In earlyIndian tribal lore, a warrior who wore two magpie feathers woven in hishair was considered both fierce and fearless. The magpie also featuresprominently in many Indian myths and legends as both a doer of gooddeeds as well as a crafty mischief-maker.Magpies are undoubtedly the noisiest birds in Montana, loudlyscolding all intruders from their treetop perches. A Sioux legend tellsthe tale of the Magpie’s chatter.“Many winters ago the people received a gift called the talkingfeather. I will share with you the story of how this came to pass. Whenthe call came to the young mothers in the village to take their basketsand gather the fruit and berries, the old grandmothers, whose legs hadlost the fast walk and sure foot of the doe, were left to care for theyoung children. The mothers honored the grandmothers by giving themthis responsibility on those days.It is believed that the young children have many dreams and visionsto collect before they are grown. They were given a bit of sleep in thewarmth of a darkened lodge before Sun has traveled his full path eachday. Now let me tell you what happened on one of these days.Crow and Magpie, two of our noise making winged ones were having aterrible argument outside the lodge of the sleeping children."Caaaw-caaaw" screamed Crow. "Kaaack-Kack" yelled Magpie. They wereboth speaking at once and they could not hear each other's point ofview on the subject of which tree belonged to which bird.Now first one of the grandmothers asked Creator to quiet the voicesoutside. This was easier than going out to take care of it herself. ButCreator let the grandmother know that it was her job to go out andscare off the birds. You see Wakan Tonka knew that a great gift wascoming to the people and he wanted the grandmother to see it happen.When she could not get the attention of the screaming Crow oryelling Magpie, she called on Eagle, most Wakan winged one. "Oh brotherEagle can you chase off these two noisy ones so our children can stilldream", asked the grandmother.With a mighty flap of his wings and a leap from the limb he sailedtowards the noisy pair. He gave a call of warning to the Crow andMagpie as he came close, but they were so busy fighting they did noteven hear him. When Eagle saw this he yelled louder and came closer,and that is when it happened."Caaaw-caaaw, Caaaw-caaaw", Crow screamed as he flapped his wings inthe air so hard he nearly fell off his perch. "Kaaack-Kack", yelledMagpie as his wings too flapped up a storm. Suddenly they both felt thecontact of a sacred Eagle wing and saw a feather fall as they froze inmid squawk! Oh my what had they done? Crow swooped down and caught thefeather before it landed on Mother Earth. As he came back to the branchhe heard Magpie speaking to Eagle."Oh brother Eagle most Wakan of our family we did not hear you so near. I am truly sorry for the injury I have caused you."Crow was surprised to hear such an honorable thing come from themouth of this rude neighbor. He held the Eagle feather in one claw andspoke with dignity. "I have many times been a naughty bird but brotherEagle I think this may be the worst I have done in many moons. I amvery sorry for this bad thing I have done."Magpie was shocked, could this be that unruly Crow who spoke suchwise words? Crow handed the feather to Magpie so he could give it backto Eagle. As Magpie took the feather their eyes met and with no wordsat all they both knew that this mistake would not have happened if theyhad not been fighting. Magpie spoke as he took the feather and said, "Iam ashamed, brother Eagle, that my loud talk and harsh words were moreimportant to me than solving our problem."He looked to Crow for a sign of understanding. Crow took the featherback from Magpie and said, "We have disturbed the two legged childrenand torn from your wing a sacred feather and now we return it to youwith a request for your forgiveness."Eagle had watched all this with wise eyes and an open heart. He knewthe lesson of listening had been learned by his little brothers and hesaw that the grandmother looked on with learning eyes also. So he saidto Crow, "Give my feather to the grandmother so that she might dress itwith beads and leather and fur to make it even more beautiful. Let herkeep it in her lodge and teach others to create this fine lookingfeather."Eagle said, "We will call this sacred item a Talking Feather. Youhave seen it's power grandmother. Tell all the people that when theycome together for Council Fires or at any gathering where ears might beshut, to bring out the Talking Feather and let only the holder speak.This will be done in an honorable manner letting everyone have his say.Begin with the highest ranking Elder and pass the feather until allhave spoken.""When the feather is held with its back to the listeners and theinside curve to the speaker he will hear his own words first as theycome back to him. This will help to tame the harsh tongue of the twolegged. If disagreements are still between two people they will turnthe feather away from themselves so the words can go straight to theone they are at odds with", explained Eagle. "When all have spoken avote can be taken and the side who gathers the most votes will make thefinal decision", said Eagle.As Eagle spoke these words Crow brought the feather to thegrandmother. She was very honored to have learned this lesson and shebrought the feather to her lodge and every grandmother from that day onhas told this story and helped the young ones to make Talking Feathers.”Anonymous