In Chinese folklore, magpies have always had the reputation of "annunciation birds", and going out to see magpies will make people think that there may be good things to happen that day.
Like many folktales, we can't explain why with science, but they affect everyone deeply.
This may be the power of culture!
Unlike China, which has a high "cultural status", magpies in Europe bear the notoriety of "thieves" and "thieves", and are not very popular.
Why is there a "polarization" of magpies? Is the image of a magpie really that bad? It is necessary to understand their habits.
The "big crow" who is not picky eaters
Magpies are very common in our country, they are larger than the average small bird, the body length is about 45 cm, because of their close relatives with crows, so their body shape is very similar to crows.
In addition to our country, magpies are also widely distributed in other parts of the world, they are very adaptable, whether in the mountains or plains can inhabit.
Although they do not choose much place to live, their habitat still shows this law: the more human activity, the more magpies tend to be more, and vice versa, the less.
Magpies usually come out in groups during the day to feed in the wild or in farmland, and at night they return to their nests to rest, and their nests are usually built on top of high trees.
Like crows, magpies are also a guy who eats everything, and their favorite food is insects, plants, and garbage, which is probably the reason why they have always followed humans.
In addition to eating mainly these foods, they also prey on young birds of small squirrels, lizards, and other small birds, such as sparrows and spotted doves.
We usually talk about "doves occupying the magpie's nest", which sounds like a poor and helpless victim, but in fact they have a very clever response.
Magpies do not build only one nest when building their nests, but build several more "nests" around the "main nest", so that they will not be homeless after their homes are occupied by other large birds.
In fact, compared with other big birds occupying the magpie's nest, the behavior of magpies eating people's young birds seems to be more "bad", just as a report!
Why don't Europeans like magpies?
Magpies are popular not only in China, but also in east Asia, and the North Korean magpie among the magpies is also the national bird of South Korea.
Judging from the habits of the magpies mentioned above, the magpie is not a "bad bird", so why is it not popular with Europeans?
In fact, whether an animal is attractive or not has to do with how it treats other animals, but it depends more on how they treat humans.
Just like tigers and lions hunt fawns cruelly but they rarely interfere with humans, so we don't hate them very much, on the contrary, they are a bit adored.
Why do street rats cause everyone to shout and beat? It is not because it is always sneaking wild on human territory, eating and destroying indiscriminately.
Europeans call magpies thieves not just because magpies steal the young birds of other birds, but more because they think magpies will steal their stuff and pick expensive ones!
What's going on?
It turned out that there had long been a rumor in Europe that shiny trinkets such as rings and jewelry had been found in the magpie's nest.
Although there is no reliable evidence to prove the truth of the rumor, it has spread among the people that the hateful magpie can steal the valuables of human beings!
The rumors were only a small spread, and it was a later opera that played a role in fueling the waves.
In 1815, an opera called "la pie voleuse" appeared in France, and in the era of war and finally ushered in a peaceful life, the opera was a big hit in Europe.
As the name of the opera bears, it tells the story of a servant accused of stealing his master's silverware, and the real "murderer" was a magpie.
The fire of the opera made the magpie "famous", and the disgraceful role of the magpie as a "thief" and "thief" was imprinted in the hearts of Europeans.
The power of culture was powerful, and over time the magpie became a symbol of thieves in Europe.
The researchers used experiments to justify the magpies
Just as we thought magpies could bring good fortune but could not verify one of the claims, Europeans did not verify for a long time whether magpies were real thieves.
But now scientists have used experiments to break this centuries-old prejudice, and the "stigmatized" magpie has finally been cleared.
The experiment is simple, lure them with a bunch of magpies' favorite food, and then put in some shiny trinkets in it, such as rings, necklaces, etc.
In 64 tests, only two times the magpies picked up the ornaments, but they were quickly thrown away, indicating that they were not interested in valuable ornaments.
If magpies do take away something like a ring, it may not be because they like it, but because they think the ring can be used to build a nest.
Because they did do something similar, there was once a news that in the magpie's nest there was a wire weighing more than 20 kilograms!
They may not be able to distinguish between rings and wires, and they can take them as long as they can use them to build a nest!
At last
In fact, there is a misconception about magpies: stealing other young birds will lead to a decline in the number of other flocks of birds, but scientists later proved this statement wrong.
Even though humans are notorious for some animals, including magpies, no animal is in fact heinous in nature.
Whether humans give them a "proper name" or not, they will still live their way.