Sandy, Bedfordshire: Rather than risking going beak to beak, it hops behind the crow, repeatedly pecks its rear, and when the crow turns its head, skips back out of reach
A giant ball of sticks is wedged high in the sycamore beyond our garden. I call it the house that chack built. A pair of magpies made this nest and, while it occupies a position of dominance, the magpies are not always in a dominant position. Two carrion crows have landed in a neighbouring lime and are casting covetous eyes over the nest: the magpies have no choice but to confront them. One of the magpies appears to want none of the action. It flies to a lower branch of the lime and wipes its beak from side to side against it in a state of great agitation. One of the crows, high in the tree, shows its uncertainty at the other end – its tail fanning and closing, fanning and closing.
In between, a magpie and a crow are shaping up for a distinctly uneven contest. Side by side on a branch, they present a true sense of proportion – the thick-set, no-neck crow more than twice the weight of its relatively slender, tail-flicking opponent and, for once, the magpie's normally formidable bill looks like a pair of pliers against a hammer drill. But what the magpie lacks in bulk, it makes up in needling guile. Rather than risking going beak to beak, it hops behind the crow and pecks repeatedly at its rear. Each time it attacks, the crow turns its head slowly and awkwardly, only to find its assailant has skipped back out of reach.
The continual assaults force the discomfited crow on an incremental shuffle along the branches. The magpie keeps forcing it down the gangplank until the branches become twigs and the crow's weight makes it seesaw up and down. Its wings lift and fall to keep its balance, but it is too much to bear and the crow lifts off. Its mate seems to realise it is outnumbered and flees too. The fighting magpie gives a sharp "chack!" and leads its mate back to their nest. For now, the danger is averted, but the bigger birds will surely try again for the magpies' eggs or chicks.