title: Newgrange content: purpose, because some of the carvings had been in places that would not have been visible, such as at the bottom of the orthostatic slabs below ground level. Extensive research on how the art relates to alignments and astronomy in the Boyne Valley complex was carried out by American-Irish researcher, Martin Brennan. The Neolithic people who built the monument were native agriculturalists, growing crops and raising animals such as cattle in the area where their settlements were located. The original complex of Newgrange was built between c. 3200 and 3100 BC. According to carbon-14 dates, it is approximately five hundred


title: Newgrange content: years older than the current form of Stonehenge and the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt, as well as predating the Mycenaean culture of ancient Greece. Some put its period of construction somewhat later, at 3000 to 2500 BC. Geological analysis indicates that the thousands of pebbles that make up the cairn, which together would have weighed about 200,000 tonnes, came from the nearby river terraces of the Boyne. There is a large pond in this area that is believed to be the site quarried for the pebbles by the builders of Newgrange. Most of the 547 slabs that make


title: Newgrange content: up the inner passage, chambers, and the outer kerbstones are greywacke. Some or all of them may have been brought from sites approximately 5 km away, from the rocky beach at Clogherhead, County Louth, about 20 km to the northeast. The facade and entrance were built with white quartz cobblestones from the Wicklow Mountains, about 50 km to the south; dark rounded granodiorite cobbles from the Mourne Mountains, about 50 km to the north; dark gabbro cobbles from the Cooley Mountains; and banded siltstone from the shore at Carlingford Lough. The stones may have been transported to Newgrange by sea


title: Newgrange content: and up the River Boyne by fastening them to the underside of boats at low tide. None of the structural slabs were quarried, for they show signs of having been weathered naturally, so they must have been collected and then transported, largely uphill, to the Newgrange site. The granite basins found inside the chambers also came from the Mournes. Frank Mitchell suggested that the monument could have been built within a space of five years, basing his estimation upon the likely number of local inhabitants during the Neolithic and the amount of time they could have devoted to building it


title: Newgrange content: rather than farming. This estimate, however, was criticised by Michael. J. O'Kelly and his archaeological team, who believed that it would have taken a minimum of thirty years to build. Excavations have revealed deposits of both burnt and unburnt human bone in the passage, indicating human corpses had been placed within it, some of whom had been cremated. From examining the unburnt bone, it was shown to come from at least two separate individuals, but much of their skeletons was missing, and what was left had been scattered about the passage. Various grave goods were deposited alongside the bodies inside


title: Newgrange content: the passage. Excavations that took place in the late 1960s and early 1970s revealed seven 'marbles', four pendants, two beads, a used flint flake, a bone chisel, and fragments of bone pins and points. Many more artifacts had been found in the passage in previous centuries by visiting antiquarians and tourists, although most of these were removed and went missing or held in private collections. Nonetheless, sometimes these were recorded and it is believed that the grave goods that came from Newgrange were typical of Neolithic Irish passage grave assemblages. The remains of animals also have been found in the


title: Newgrange content: structure, primarily those of mountain hares, rabbits, and dogs, but also of bats, sheep, goats, cattle, song thrushes, and more rarely, molluscs and frogs. Most of these animals would have entered and died in the chamber many centuries or even millennia after it was constructed: for instance, rabbits were only introduced to Ireland in the thirteenth century. During much of the Neolithic period, the Newgrange area continued to be a focus of some ceremonial activity. In the Late Neolithic, it appears that Newgrange was no longer being used by the local population, who did not leave any artefacts in the


title: Newgrange content: structure or bury their dead there. As the archaeologist Michael J. O'Kelly stated, "by 2000 [BC] Newgrange was in decay and squatters were living around its collapsing edge". These people were adherents of the Beaker culture, which had been imported from mainland Europe, and made Beaker-style pottery locally. A large timber circle (or henge) was built to the southeast of the main mound and a smaller timber circle to the west. The eastern timber circle consisted of five concentric rows of pits. The outer row contained wooden posts. The next row of pits had clay linings and was used to


title: Newgrange content: burn animal remains. The three inner rows of pits were dug to accept the animal remains. Within the circle were post and stake holes associated with Beaker pottery and flint flakes. The western timber circle consisted of two concentric rows of parallel postholes and pits defining a circle in diameter. A concentric mound of clay was constructed around the southern and western sides of the mound that covered a structure consisting of two parallel lines of post and ditches that had been partly burnt. A free-standing circle of large stones was raised around the Newgrange mound. Near the entrance, seventeen


title: Newgrange content: hearths were used to set fires. These structures at Newgrange are generally contemporary with a number of henges known from the Boyne Valley, at Newgrange Site A, Newgrange Site O, Dowth Henge, and Monknewtown Henge. The site evidently continued to have some ritual significance into the Iron Age. Among various objects later deposited around the mound are two pendants made from gold Roman coins of 320–337 AD (now in the National Museum of Ireland) and Roman gold jewellery including two bracelets, two finger rings, and a necklace, now in the collections of the British Museum. There have been various debates


title: Newgrange content: as to its original purpose. Many archaeologists believed that the monument had religious significance of some sort or another, either as a place of worship for a "cult of the dead" or for an astronomically-based faith. The archaeologist Michael J. O'Kelly, who led the 1962–1975 excavations at the site, believed that the monument had to be seen in relation to the nearby Knowth and Dowth, and that the building of Newgrange "cannot be regarded as other than the expression of some kind of powerful force or motivation, brought to the extremes of aggrandizement in these three monuments, the cathedrals of


title: Newgrange content: the megalithic religion." O'Kelly believed that Newgrange, alongside the hundreds of other passage tombs built in Ireland during the Neolithic, showed evidence for a religion that venerated the dead as one of its core principles. He believed that this "cult of the dead" was just one particular form of European Neolithic religion, and that other megalithic monuments displayed evidence for different religious beliefs that were solar-oriented, rather than ancestor-oriented. Studies in other fields of expertise offer alternative interpretations of the possible functions, however, which principally centre on the astronomy, engineering, geometry, and mythology associated with the Boyne monuments. It is


title: Newgrange content: speculated that the sun formed an important part of the religious beliefs of the Neolithic people who built it. One idea was that the room was designed for a ritualistic capturing of sun rays on the shortest day of the year, the Winter Solstice, as the room gets flooded with sunlight, which might have signaled that the days would start to get longer again. This view is strengthened by the discovery of alignments in Knowth, Dowth, and the Lough Crew Cairns leading to the interpretation of these monuments as calendrical or astronomical devices. Formerly, the Newgrange mound was encircled by


title: Newgrange content: an outer ring of immense standing stones, of which twelve of a possible thirty-seven remain. Evidence from carbon dating suggests that the stone circle which encircled Newgrange may not be contemporary with the monument however, but was placed there some 1,000 years later in the Bronze Age. This view is disputed and relates to a carbon date from a standing stone setting that intersects with a later timber post circle, the theory being, that the stone in question could have been moved and later, re-set in its original position. This research implies a continuity of use of Newgrange of over


title: Newgrange content: a thousand years; with partial remains found from only five individuals, some question the tomb theory for its purpose. Once a year, at the Winter Solstice, the rising sun shines directly along the long passage, illuminating the inner chamber and revealing the carvings inside, notably the triple spiral on the front wall of the chamber. This illumination lasts for approximately 17 minutes. Michael J. O'Kelly was the first person in modern times to observe this event on 21 December 1967. The sunlight enters the passage through a specially contrived opening, known as a roofbox, directly above the main entrance. Although


title: Newgrange content: solar alignments are not uncommon among passage graves, Newgrange is one of few to contain the additional roofbox feature. (Cairn G at Carrowkeel Megalithic Cemetery is another, and it has been suggested that one can be found at Bryn Celli Ddu.) The alignment is such that although the roofbox is above the passage entrance, the light hits the floor of the inner chamber. Today the first light enters about four minutes after sunrise, but calculations based on the precession of the Earth show that 5,000 years ago, first light would have entered exactly at sunrise. The solar alignment at Newgrange


title: Newgrange content: is very precise compared to similar phenomena at other passage graves such as Dowth or Maes Howe in the Orkney Islands, off the coast of Scotland. During the medieval period, Newgrange and the wider Brú na Bóinne Neolithic complex gained various attributes in local folklore, which was often connected to figures from wider Irish mythology. The monuments of the Brú were thought of by some as being the abode of the supernatural Tuatha De Danann, whilst others considered them to be the burial mounds of the ancient kings of Tara. Amongst those who believed the folkloric tales relating the Brú


title: Newgrange content: to the Tuatha De Danann, it was commonly thought that they were the abode of the most powerful of the Tuatha, particularly The Dagda, his wife Boann, and his son, Oengus. According to the eleventh-century "Book of Lecan", the Dagda had built the Brú for use by his family, whilst the twelfth-century "Book of Leinster" describes how Oengus tricked his father into giving him the Brú for all eternity. Another text, "The Pursuit of Diarmaid and Grainne" also implies that Oengus owned the Brú, when he declared how he took his friend Diarmaid to it. Sometime after 1142 the structure


title: Newgrange content: became part of outlying farmland owned by the Cistercian Abbey of Mellifont. These farms were referred to as 'granges'. Newgrange is not mentioned in any of the early charters of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, but an "Inspeximus" granted by Edward III in 1348 includes a "Nova Grangia" among the demesne lands of the abbey. On 23 July 1539, following the Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII, Mellifont Abbey and its demesnes became the fortified mansion of an English soldier of fortune, Edward Moore, ancestor of the Earls of Drogheda. On 14 August 1699, Alice Moore, Countess Dowager of


title: Newgrange content: Drogheda, leased the demesne of Newgrange to a Williamite settler, Charles Campbell, for 99 years. In 1699, a local landowner, Charles Campbell, ordered some of his farm labourers to dig up a part of Newgrange, which then had the appearance of a large mound of earth, so that he could collect stone from within it. The labourers soon discovered the entrance to the tomb within the mound, and a Welsh antiquarian named Edward Lhwyd, who was staying in the area, was alerted and took an interest in the monument. He wrote an account of the mound and its tomb, describing


title: Newgrange content: what he saw as its "barbarous sculpture" and noting that animal bones, beads, and pieces of glass had been found inside of it (modern archaeologists have speculated that these latter two were in fact the polished pottery beads that subsequently have been found at the site and that were a common feature of Neolithic tombs). Soon another antiquarian visitor, Sir Thomas Molyneaux, professor at the University of Dublin, also came to the site. He talked to Charles Campbell, who informed him that he had found the remains of two human corpses in the tomb, one (which was male), in one


title: Newgrange content: of the cisterns, and another farther along the passageway, something that Lhwyd had not noted. Subsequently, Newgrange was visited by a number of antiquarians, who often performed their own measurements of the site and made their own observations, which often were published in various antiquarian journals; these included such figures as Sir William Wilde, Thomas Pownall, Thomas Wright, John O'Donovan, George Petrie, and James Ferguson. These antiquarians often concocted their own theories about the origins of Newgrange, many of which have since been proved incorrect. Thomas Pownall conducted a very detailed survey of New Grange in 1769, which numbers all


title: Newgrange content: the stones and also records some of the carvings on the stone and asserted that the mound originally had been taller and a lot of the stone on top of it had been removed, a theory that has been disproven by archaeological research. The majority of these antiquarians also refused to believe that it was ancient peoples native to Ireland who built the monument, with many believing that it had been built in the early medieval period by invading Vikings, whilst others speculated that it had been built by the ancient Egyptians, ancient Indians, or the Phoenicians. At some time


title: Newgrange content: in the early 1800s, a folly was built a few yards behind Newgrange. The folly, with two circular windows, was made of stones taken from Newgrange. In 1882, under the Ancient Monuments Protection Act, Newgrange and the nearby monuments of Knowth and Dowth were taken under the control of the state (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, as it was then known), and they were placed under the responsibility of the Board of Public Works. In 1890, under the leadership of Thomas Newenham Deane, the board began a project of conservation of the monument, which had been damaged through


title: Newgrange content: general deterioration over the previous three millennia as well as the increasing vandalism caused by visitors, some of whom had inscribed their names on the stones. In subsequent decades, a number of archaeologists performed excavations at the site, discovering more about its function and how it had been built; however, even at the time, it was still mistakenly believed by archaeologists to be built during the Bronze Age rather than during the earlier Neolithic period. In the 1950s, electric lighting was installed in the passageway to allow visitors to see more clearly, whilst an exhaustive archaeological excavation was undertaken from


title: Newgrange content: 1962 through to 1975, the excavation report of which was written by Michael J. O'Kelly and published in 1982 by Thames and Hudson as "Newgrange: Archaeology, Art and Legend". Following the O'Kelly excavation, further restoration and reconstruction took place at the site. Based on the positions of the cobblestones, and after conducting experiments, O'Kelly concluded that they had made up a retaining wall, but had fallen from the face of the mound. As part of the restoration, this wall was 'rebuilt' and the cobblestones were fixed into a near-vertical steel-reinforced concrete wall surrounding the front of the mound. This work


title: Newgrange content: is controversial among the archaeological community. P. R. Griot described the monument as looking like a "cream cheese cake with dried currants distributed about." Neil Oliver described the reconstruction as "a bit brutal, a bit overdone, kind of like Stalin does the Stone Age". Critics of the new wall claim that the technology to fix a retaining wall at this angle did not exist when the mound was created. Another theory is that some, or all, of the white quartz cobblestones had formed a plaza on the ground at the entrance. This theory was preferred at nearby Knowth, where the


title: Newgrange content: restorers laid the quartz stones out as an "apron" in front of the entrance to the great mound. The inward-curving dark stone walls on each side of the entrance are not original, nor are they intended to suggest Newgrange's original appearance, but were designed solely to facilitate visitor access. A visitor guide book to the site, however, has a reconstruction drawing depicting Neolithic inhabitants using Newgrange that shows the modern entrance as if it were part of Newgrange's original appearance. Newgrange is located west of Drogheda in County Meath. The interpretive centre is located on the south bank of the


title: Newgrange content: river and Newgrange is located on the north side of the river. Access is only from the interpretive centre. Access to Newgrange is by guided tour only. Tours begin at the Brú na Bóinne Visitor Centre from which visitors are taken to the site in groups. Current-day visitors to Newgrange are treated to a guided tour and an re-enactment of the Winter Solstice experience through the use of high-powered electric lights situated within the tomb. The finale of a Newgrange tour results in every visitor standing inside the tomb where the tour guide then turns off the lights, and then


title: Newgrange content: turns on ones simulating the sunlight that would appear on the winter solstice. To experience the phenomenon on the morning of the Winter Solstice from inside Newgrange, visitors to Bru Na Bóinne Visitor Centre must enter an annual lottery at the centre. Of the thousands who enter, twenty are chosen each year. The winner is permitted to bring a single guest. The winners are split into groups of ten and taken in on the five days around the solstice in December when sunlight can enter the chamber, weather permitting. Newgrange Newgrange ( or "Brú na Bóinne") is a prehistoric monument


title: "Kjell Inge Røkke" content: having several exclusive cars, including a Ford GT acquired in August 2016. Kjell Inge Røkke Kjell Inge Røkke (born 25 October 1958) is a Norwegian businessman and philanthropist, and is among the richest people in Norway, controlling the Norwegian company Aker ASA. Røkke is Aker ASA’s main owner, has been a driving force in the development of Aker since the 1990s. Røkke launched his business career with the purchase of a 69-foot trawler in the United States in 1982, and gradually built a leading worldwide fisheries business. In 1996, the Røkke controlled company, RGI, purchased enough Aker shares to become


title: Mixtec content: for the "obrajes" (textile workshops) of the city of Puebla in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries was sometimes recruited from peasant villages in the Mixteca.” There is evidence of community litigation against Mixtec caciques who leased land to Spaniards and the growth of individually contracted wage labor. Mixtec documentation from the late eighteenth century indicates that “most caciques were simply well-to-do investors in Spanish-style enterprises”; some married non-Indians; and in the late colonial era had little claim to hereditary authority. The Mixtec area, both historically and currently, corresponds roughly to the western half of the state of Oaxaca, with some


title: "Flash (photography)" content: Flash (photography) A flash is a device used in photography producing a flash of artificial light (typically 1/1000 to 1/200 of a second) at a color temperature of about 5500 K to help illuminate a scene. A major purpose of a flash is to illuminate a dark scene. Other uses are capturing quickly moving objects or changing the quality of light. "Flash" refers either to the flash of light itself or to the electronic flash unit discharging the light. Most current flash units are electronic, having evolved from single-use flashbulbs and flammable powders. Modern cameras often activate flash units automatically.


title: "Flash (photography)" content: Flash units are commonly built directly into a camera. Some cameras allow separate flash units to be mounted via a standardized "accessory mount" bracket (a "hot shoe"). In professional studio equipment, flashes may be large, standalone units, or "studio strobes", powered by special battery packs or connected to mains power. They are either synchronized with the camera using a flash synchronization cable or radio signal, or are light-triggered, meaning that only one flash unit needs to be synchronized with the camera, and in turn triggers the other units, called "slaves". Studies of magnesium by Bunsen and Roscoe in 1859 showed


title: "Flash (photography)" content: that burning this metal produced a light with similar qualities to daylight. The potential application to photography inspired Edward Sonstadt to investigate methods of manufacturing magnesium so that it would burn reliably for this use. He applied for patents in 1862 and by 1864 had started the Manchester Magnesium Company with Edward Mellor. With the help of engineer William Mather, who was also a director of the company, they produced flat magnesium ribbon, which was said to burn more consistently and completely so giving better illumination than round wire. It also had the benefit of being a simpler and cheaper


title: "Flash (photography)" content: process than making round wire. Mather was also credited with the invention of a holder for the ribbon, which formed a lamp to burn it in. A variety of magnesium ribbon holders were produced by other manufacturers, such as the Pistol Flashmeter, which incorporated an inscribed ruler that allowed the photographer to use the correct length of ribbon for the exposure they needed. The packaging also implies that the magnesium ribbon was not necessarily broken off before being ignited. An alternative to ribbon was flash powder, a mixture of magnesium powder and potassium chlorate, introduced by its German inventors Adolf


title: "Flash (photography)" content: Miethe and Johannes Gaedicke in 1887. A measured amount was put into a pan or trough and ignited by hand, producing a brief brilliant flash of light, along with the smoke and noise that might be expected from such an explosive event. This could be a life-threatening activity, especially if the flash powder was damp. An electrically triggered flash lamp was invented by Joshua Lionel Cowen in 1899. His patent describes a device for igniting photographers’ flash powder by using dry cell batteries to heat a wire fuse. Variations and alternatives were touted from time to time and a few


title: "Flash (photography)" content: found a measure of success, especially for amateur use. In 1905, one French photographer was using intense non-explosive flashes produced by a special mechanized carbon arc lamp to photograph subjects in his studio, but more portable and less expensive devices prevailed. On through the 1920s, flash photography normally meant a professional photographer sprinkling powder into the trough of a T-shaped flash lamp, holding it aloft, then triggering a brief and (usually) harmless bit of pyrotechnics. The use of flash powder in an open lamp was replaced by "flashbulbs"; magnesium filaments were contained in bulbs filled with oxygen gas, and electrically


title: "Flash (photography)" content: ignited by a contact in the camera shutter. Manufactured flashbulbs were first produced commercially in Germany in 1929. Such a bulb could only be used once, and was too hot to handle immediately after use, but the confinement of what would otherwise have amounted to a small explosion was an important advance. A later innovation was the coating of flashbulbs with a plastic film to maintain bulb integrity in the event of the glass shattering during the flash. A blue plastic film was introduced as an option to match the spectral quality of the flash to daylight-balanced colour film. Subsequently,


title: "Flash (photography)" content: the magnesium was replaced by zirconium, which produced a brighter flash. Flashbulbs took longer to reach full brightness and burned for longer than electronic flashes. Slower shutter speeds (typically from 1/10 to 1/50 of a second) were used on cameras to ensure proper synchronization. Cameras with flash sync triggered the flashbulb a fraction of a second before opening the shutter, allowing faster shutter speeds. A flashbulb widely used during the 1960s was the Press 25, the flashbulb often used by newspapermen in period movies, usually attached to a press camera or a twin-lens reflex camera. Its peak light output was


title: "Flash (photography)" content: around a million lumens. Other flashbulbs in common use were the M-series, M-2, M-3 etc., which had a small ("miniature") metal bayonet base fused to the glass bulb. The largest flashbulb ever produced was the GE Mazda No. 75, being over eight inches long with a girth of 14 inches, initially developed for nighttime aerial photography during World War II. The all-glass PF1 bulb was introduced in 1954. Eliminating both the metal base, and the multiple manufacturing steps needed to attach it to the glass bulb, cut the cost substantially compared to the larger M series bulbs. The design required


title: "Flash (photography)" content: a fibre ring around the base to hold the contact wires against the side of the glass base. An adapter was available allowing the bulb to fit into flash guns that accepted the bayonet capped bulbs. The PF1 (along with the M2) had a faster ignition time (less delay between shutter contact and peak output), so it could be used with X synch below 1/30 of a second—while most bulbs require a shutter speed of 1/15 on X synch to keep the shutter open long enough for the bulb to ignite and burn. A smaller version, the AG-1 was introduced


title: "Flash (photography)" content: in 1958 which did not require the fibre ring. Though it was smaller and had reduced light output, it was cheaper to manufacture and rapidly supplanted the PF1. In 1965 Eastman Kodak of Rochester, New York replaced the individual flashbulb technology used on early Instamatic cameras with the "Flashcube" developed by Sylvania Electric Products.. A flashcube was a module with four expendable flashbulbs, each mounted at 90° from the others in its own reflector. For use it was mounted atop the camera with an electrical connection to the shutter release and a battery inside the camera. After each flash exposure,


title: "Flash (photography)" content: the film advance mechanism also rotated the flashcube 90° to a fresh bulb. This arrangement allowed the user to take four images in rapid succession before inserting a new flashcube. The later Magicube (or X-Cube) retained the four-bulb format, but did not require electrical power. It was not interchangeable with the original Flashcube. Each bulb in a Magicube was set off by releasing one of four cocked wire springs within the cube. The spring struck a primer tube at the base of the bulb, which contained a fulminate, which in turn ignited shredded zirconium foil in the flash. A Magicube


title: "Flash (photography)" content: could also be fired using a key or paper clip to trip the spring manually. "X-cube" was an alternate name for Magicubes, indicating the appearance of the camera's socket. Other common flashbulb-based devices were the Flashbar and Flipflash, which provided ten flashes from a single unit. The bulbs in a Flipflash were set in a vertical array, putting a distance between the bulb and the lens, eliminating red eye. The Flipflash name derived from the fact that once half the flashbulbs had been used, the unit had to be flipped over and re-inserted to use the remaining bulbs. In many


title: "Flash (photography)" content: Flipflash cameras, the bulbs were ignited by electrical currents produced when a piezoelectric crystal was struck mechanically by a spring-loaded striker, which was cocked each time the film was advanced. The electronic flash tube was introduced by Harold Eugene Edgerton in 1931; he made several iconic photographs, such as one of a bullet bursting through an apple. The large photographic company Kodak was initially reluctant to take up the idea. Electronic flash, often called "strobe" in the US following Edgerton's use of the technique for stroboscopy, came into some use in the late 1950s, although flashbulbs remained dominant in amateur


title: "Flash (photography)" content: photography until the mid 1970s. Early units were expensive, and often large and heavy; the power unit was separate from the flash head and was powered by a large lead-acid battery carried with a shoulder strap. Towards the end of the 1960s electronic flashguns of similar size to conventional bulb guns became available; the price, although it had dropped, was still high. The electronic flash system eventually superseded bulb guns as prices came down. A typical electronic flash unit has electronic circuitry to charge a high-capacitance capacitor to several hundred volts. When the flash is triggered by the shutter's flash


title: "Flash (photography)" content: synchronization contact, the capacitor is discharged rapidly through a permanent flash tube, producing an immediate flash lasting typically 1/1000 of a second, shorter than shutter speeds used, with full brightness before the shutter has started to close, allowing easy synchronization of full flash brightness with maximum shutter opening. Synchronization was problematic with bulbs, which if ignited simultaneously with shutter operation would not reach full brightness before the shutter closed. A single electronic flash unit is often mounted on a camera's accessory shoe or a bracket; many inexpensive cameras have an electronic flash unit built in. For more sophisticated and longer-range


title: "Flash (photography)" content: lighting several synchronised flash units at different positions may be used. Ring flashes that fit to a camera's lens can be used for shadow free macro photography, There are a few lenses with built-in ring-flash. In a photographic studio, more powerful and flexible studio flash systems are used. They usually contain a modeling light, an incandescent light bulb close to the flash tube; the continuous illumination of the modeling light lets the photographer visualize the effect of the flash. A system may comprise multiple synchronised flashes for multi-source lighting. The strength of a flash device is often indicated in terms


title: "Flash (photography)" content: of a guide number designed to simplify exposure setting. The energy released by larger studio flash units, such as monolights, is indicated in watt-seconds. Canon and Nikon name their electronic flash units Speedlite and Speedlight respectively, and these terms are frequently used as generic terms for electronic flash equipment. An air-gap flash is a high-voltage device that discharges a flash of light with an exceptionally short duration, often much less than one microsecond. These are commonly used by scientists or engineers for examining extremely fast-moving objects or reactions, famous for producing images of bullets tearing through light bulbs and balloons


title: "Flash (photography)" content: (see Harold Eugene Edgerton). An example of a process by which to create a high speed flash is the exploding wire method. A camera that implements multiple flashes can be used to find depth edges or create stylized images. Such a camera has been developed by researchers at the Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories (MERL). Successive flashing of strategically placed flash mechanisms results in shadows along the depths of the scene. This information can be manipulated to suppress or enhance details or capture the intricate geometric features of a scene (even those hidden from the eye), to create a non-photorealistic image


title: "Flash (photography)" content: form. Such images could be useful in technical or medical imaging. Unlike flashbulbs, the intensity of an electronic flash can be adjusted on some units. To do this, smaller flash units typically vary the capacitor discharge time, whereas larger (e.g., higher power, studio) units typically vary the capacitor charge. Color temperature can change as a result of varying the capacitor charge, thus making color corrections necessary. Due to advances in semiconductor technology, some studio units can now control intensity by varying the discharge time and thereby provide consistent color temperature. Flash intensity is typically measured in stops or in fractions


title: "Flash (photography)" content: (1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8 etc.). Some monolights display an "EV Number", so that a photographer can know the difference in brightness between different flash units with different watt-second ratings. EV10.0 is defined as 6400 watt-seconds, and EV9.0 is one stop lower, i.e. 3200 watt-seconds. Flash duration is commonly described by two numbers that are expressed in fractions of a second: For example, a single flash event might have a t.5 value of 1/1200 and t.1 of 1/450. These values determine the ability of a flash to "freeze" moving subjects in applications such as sports photography. In cases where intensity is


title: "Flash (photography)" content: controlled by capacitor discharge time, t.5 and t.1 decrease with decreasing intensity. Conversely, in cases where intensity is controlled by capacitor charge, t.5 and t.1 increase with decreasing intensity due to the non-linearity of the capacitor's discharge curve. High-current flash LEDs are used as flash sources in camera phones, although they are not yet at the power levels to equal xenon flash devices (that are rarely used in phones) in still cameras. The major advantages of LEDs over xenon include low voltage operation, higher efficiency, and extreme miniaturization. The LED flash can also be used for illumination of video recordings


title: "Flash (photography)" content: or as an autofocus assist lamp in low-light conditions. Electronic flash units have shutter speed limits with focal-plane shutters. Focal-plane shutters expose using two curtains that cross the sensor. The first one opens and the second curtain follows it after a delay equal to the nominal shutter speed. A typical modern focal-plane shutter on a full-frame or smaller sensor camera takes about 1/400 s to 1/300 s to cross the sensor, so at exposure times shorter than this only part of the sensor is uncovered at any one time. The time available to fire a single flash which uniformly illuminates


title: "Flash (photography)" content: the image recorded on the sensor is the exposure time minus the shutter travel time. Equivalently, the minimum possible exposure time is the shutter travel time plus the flash duration (plus any delays in triggering the flash). For example, a Nikon D850 has a shutter travel time of about 2.4ms. A full-power flash from a modern built-in or hot shoe mounted electronic flash has a typical duration of about 1ms, or a little less, so the minimum possible exposure time for even exposure across the sensor with a full-power flash is about 2.4ms + 1.0 ms = 3.4ms, corresponding to


title: "Flash (photography)" content: a shutter speed of about 1/290 s. However some time is required to trigger the flash. At the maximum (standard) D850 X-sync shutter speed of 1/250 s, the exposure time is 1/250 s = 4.0ms, so about 4.0ms - 2.4ms = 1.6ms are available to trigger and fire the flash, and with a 1ms flash duration, 1.6ms - 1.0ms = 0.6ms are available to trigger the flash in this Nikon D850 example. Mid- to high-end Nikon DSLRs (roughly D7000 and above) have an unusual menu-selectable feature which increases the maximum X-Sync speed to 1/320 s = 3.1ms with some electronic


title: "Flash (photography)" content: flashes. At 1/320 s only 3.1ms - 2.4ms = 0.7ms are available to trigger and fire the flash while achieving a uniform flash exposure, so the maximum flash duration, and therefore maximum flash output, must be, and is, reduced. Contemporary (2018) focal-plane shutter cameras with full-frame or smaller sensors typically have maximum normal X-sync speeds of 1/200 s or 1/250 s. Some cameras are limited to 1/160 s. X-sync speeds for medium format cameras when using focal-plane shutters are somewhat slower, e.g. 1/125 s, because of the greater shutter travel time required for a wider, heavier, shutter that travels further


title: "Flash (photography)" content: across a larger sensor. In the past, slow-burning single-use flash bulbs allowed the use of focal-plane shutters at maximum speed because they produced continuous light for the time taken for the exposing slit to cross the film gate. If these are found they cannot be used on modern cameras because the bulb must be fired *before* the first shutter curtain begins to move (M-sync); the X-sync used for electronic flash normally fires only when the first shutter curtain reaches the end of its travel. High-end flash units address this problem by offering a mode, typically called FP sync or HSS


title: "Flash (photography)" content: (High Speed Sync), which fires the flash tube multiple times during the time the slit traverses the sensor. Such units require communication with the camera and are thus dedicated to a particular camera make. The multiple flashes result in a significant decrease in guide number, since each is only a part of the total flash power, but it's all that illuminates any particular part of the sensor. In general, if s is the shutter speed, and t is the shutter traverse time, the guide number reduces by . For example, if the guide number is 100, and the shutter traverse


title: "Flash (photography)" content: time is 5 ms (a shutter speed of 1/200s), and the shutter speed is set to 1/2000 s (0.5 ms), the guide number reduces by a factor of , or about 3.16, so the resultant guide number at this speed would be about 32. Current (2010) flash units frequently have much lower guide numbers in HSS mode than in normal modes, even at speeds below the shutter traverse time. For example, the Mecablitz 58 AF-1 digital flash unit has a guide number of 58 in normal operation, but only 20 in HSS mode, even at low speeds. As well as


title: "Flash (photography)" content: dedicated studio use, flash may be used as the main light source where ambient light is inadequate, or as a supplementary source in more complex lighting situations. Basic flash lighting produces a hard, frontal light unless modified in some way. Several techniques are used to soften light from the flash or provide other effects. Softboxes, diffusers that cover the flash lamp, scatter direct light and reduce its harshness. Reflectors, including umbrellas, flat-white backgrounds, drapes and reflector cards are commonly used for this purpose (even with small hand-held flash units). Bounce flash is a related technique in which flash is directed


title: "Flash (photography)" content: onto a reflective surface, for example a white ceiling or a flash umbrella, which then reflects light onto the subject. It can be used as fill-flash or, if used indoors, as ambient lighting for the whole scene. Bouncing creates softer, less artificial-looking illumination than direct flash, often reducing overall contrast and expanding shadow and highlight detail, and typically requires more flash power than direct lighting. Part of the bounced light can be also aimed directly on the subject by "bounce cards" attached to the flash unit which increase the efficiency of the flash and illuminate shadows cast by light coming


title: "Flash (photography)" content: from the ceiling. It's also possible to use one's own palm for that purpose, resulting in warmer tones on the picture, as well as eliminating the need to carry additional accessories. Fill flash or "fill-in flash" describes flash used to supplement ambient light in order to illuminate a subject close to the camera that would otherwise be in shade relative to the rest of the scene. The flash unit is set to expose the subject correctly at a given aperture, while shutter speed is calculated to correctly expose for the background or ambient light at that aperture setting. Secondary or


title: "Flash (photography)" content: slave flash units may be synchronized to the master unit to provide light from additional directions. The slave units are electrically triggered by the light from the master flash. Many small flashes and studio monolights have optical slaves built in. Wireless radio transmitters, such as PocketWizards, allow the receiver unit to be around a corner, or at a distance too far to trigger using an optical sync. To strobe, some high end units can be set to flash a specified number of times at a specified frequency. This allows action to be frozen multiple times in a single exposure. Colored


title: "Flash (photography)" content: gels can also be used to change the color of the flash. Correction gels are commonly used, so that the light of the flash is the same as tungsten lights (using a CTO gel) or fluorescent lights. Open flash, Free flash or manually-triggered flash refers to modes in which the photographer manually triggers the flash unit to fire independently of the shutter. Using on-camera flash will give a very harsh light, which results in a loss of shadows in the image, because the only lightsource is in practically the same place as the camera. Balancing the flash power and ambient


title: "Flash (photography)" content: lighting or using off-camera flash can help overcome these issues. Using an umbrella or softbox (the flash will have to be off-camera for this) makes softer shadows. A typical problem with cameras using built-in flash units is the low intensity of the flash; the level of light produced will often not suffice for good pictures at distances of over or so. Dark, murky pictures with excessive image noise or "grain" will result. In order to get good flash pictures with simple cameras, it is important not to exceed the recommended distance for flash pictures. Larger flashes, especially studio units and


title: "Flash (photography)" content: monoblocks, have sufficient power for larger distances, even through an umbrella, and can even be used against sunlight at short distances. Cameras which automatically flash in low light conditions often do not take into account the distance to the subject, causing them to fire even when the subject is several tens of metres away and unaffected by the flash. In crowds at sports matches, concerts and so on, the stands or the auditorium can be a constant sea of flashes, resulting in distraction to the performers or players and providing absolutely no benefit to the 'photographers'. The "red-eye effect" is


title: "Flash (photography)" content: another problem with on camera and ring flash units. Since the retina of the human eye reflects red light straight back in the direction it came from, pictures taken from straight in front of a face often exhibit this effect. It can be somewhat reduced by using the "red eye reduction" found on many cameras (a pre-flash that makes the subject's irises contract). However, very good results can be obtained only with a flash unit that is separated from the camera, sufficiently far from the optical axis, or by using bounce flash, where the flash head is angled to bounce


title: "Flash (photography)" content: light off a wall, ceiling or reflector. On some cameras the flash exposure measuring logic fires a pre-flash very quickly before the real flash. In some camera/people combinations this will lead to shut eyes in every picture taken. The blink response time seems to be around 1/10 of a second. If the exposure flash is fired at approximately this interval after the TTL measuring flash, people will be squinting or have their eyes shut. One solution may be the FEL (flash exposure lock) offered on some more expensive cameras, which allows the photographer to fire the measuring flash at some


title: "Flash (photography)" content: earlier time, long (many seconds) before taking the real picture. Unfortunately many camera manufacturers do not make the TTL pre-flash interval configurable. Flash distracts people, limiting the number of pictures that can be taken without irritating them. Photographing with flash may not be permitted in some museums even after purchasing a permit for taking pictures. Flash equipment may take some time to set up, and like any grip equipment, may need to be carefully secured, especially if hanging overhead, so it does not fall on anyone. A small breeze can easily topple a flash with an umbrella on a lightstand


title: "Flash (photography)" content: if it is not tied down or sandbagged. Larger equipment (e.g., monoblocks) will need a supply of AC power. Flash (photography) A flash is a device used in photography producing a flash of artificial light (typically 1/1000 to 1/200 of a second) at a color temperature of about 5500 K to help illuminate a scene. A major purpose of a flash is to illuminate a dark scene. Other uses are capturing quickly moving objects or changing the quality of light. "Flash" refers either to the flash of light itself or to the electronic flash unit discharging the light. Most current


title: "Kilmainham Gaol" content: Kilmainham Gaol Kilmainham Gaol () is a former prison in Kilmainham, Dublin, Ireland. It is now a museum run by the Office of Public Works, an agency of the Government of Ireland. Many Irish revolutionaries, including the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising, were imprisoned and executed in the prison by the British. When it was first built in 1796, Kilmainham Gaol was called the "New Gaol" to distinguish it from the old prison it was intended to replace – a noisome dungeon, just a few hundred metres from the present site. It was officially called the "County of Dublin


title: "Kilmainham Gaol" content: Gaol", and was originally run by the Grand Jury for County Dublin. Originally, public hangings took place at the front of the prison. However, from the 1820s onward very few hangings, public or private, took place at Kilmainham. A small hanging cell was built in the prison in 1891. It is located on the first floor, between the west wing and the east wing. There was no segregation of prisoners; men, women and children were incarcerated up to 5 in each cell, with only a single candle for light and heat. Most of their time was spent in the cold


title: "Kilmainham Gaol" content: and the dark, and each candle had to last for two weeks. Its cells were roughly 28 square metres in area. Children were sometimes arrested for petty theft, the youngest said to be a seven-year-old child, while many of the adult prisoners were transported to Australia. At Kilmainham the poor conditions in which women prisoners were kept provided the spur for the next stage of development. As early as his 1809 report the Inspector had observed that male prisoners were supplied with iron bedsteads while females "lay on straw on the flags in the cells and common halls". Half a


title: "Kilmainham Gaol" content: century later there was little improvement. The women's section, located in the west wing, remained overcrowded. In an attempt to relieve the overcrowding, 30 female cells were added to the Gaol in 1840. These improvements had not been made long before the Great Famine occurred, and Kilmainham was overwhelmed with the increase of prisoners. Kilmainham Gaol was decommissioned as a prison by the Irish Free State government in 1924. Seen principally as a site of oppression and suffering, there was at this time no declared interest in its preservation as a monument to the struggle for national independence. The jail's


title: "Kilmainham Gaol" content: potential function as a location of national memory was also undercut and complicated by the fact that the first four republican prisoners executed by the Free State government during the Irish Civil War were shot in the prison yard. The Irish Prison Board contemplated reopening it as a prison during the 1920s but all such plans were finally abandoned in 1929. In 1936 the government considered the demolition of the prison but the price of this undertaking was seen as prohibitive. Republican interest in the site began to develop from the late 1930s, most notably with the proposal by the


title: "Kilmainham Gaol" content: National Graves Association, a republican organisation, to preserve the site as both a museum and memorial to the 1916 Easter Rising. This proposal received no objections from the Commissioners of Public Works, who costed it at £600, and negotiations were entered into with the Department of Education about the possibility of relocating artefacts relating to the 1916 rising housed in the National Museum to a new museum at the Kilmainham Gaol site. The Department of Education rejected this proposal seeing the site as unsuitable for this purpose and suggested instead that paintings of nationalist leaders could be installed in appropriate


title: "Kilmainham Gaol" content: prison cells. However, with the advent of the Emergency the proposal was shelved for the duration of the war. An architectural survey commissioned by the Office of Public Works after World War II revealed that the prison was in a ruinous condition. With the Department of Education still intransigent to the site's conversion to a nationalist museum and with no other apparent function for the building, the Commissioners of Public Works proposed only the prison yard and those cell blocks deemed to be of national importance should be preserved and that the rest of the site should be demolished. This


title: "Kilmainham Gaol" content: proposal was not acted upon. In 1953 the Department of the Taoiseach, as part of scheme to generate employment, re-considered the proposal of the National Graves Association to restore the prison and establish a museum at the site. However, no advance was made and the material condition of the prison continued to deteriorate. From the late 1950s a grassroots movement for the preservation of Kilmainham Gaol began to develop. Provoked by reports that the Office of Public Works was accepting tenders for the demolition of the building, Lorcan C.G. Leonard, a young engineer from the north side of Dublin, along


title: "Kilmainham Gaol" content: with a small number of like-minded nationalists, formed the Kilmainham Gaol Restoration Society in 1958. In order to offset any potential division among its members the society agreed that they should not address any of the events connected with the Civil War period in relation to the restoration project. Instead a narrative of unified national struggle was to be articulated. A scheme was then devised that the prison should be restored and a museum built using voluntary labour and donated materials. With momentum for the project growing, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions informed the society that they would not


title: "Kilmainham Gaol" content: oppose their plan and the Building Trades Council gave it their support. It is also likely that Dublin Corporation, which had shown an interest in the preservation of the prison, supported the proposal. At this time the Irish government was coming under increasing pressure from the National Graves Association and the Old IRA Literary and Debating Society to take action to preserve the site. Thus, when the society submitted their plan in late 1958 the government looked favourably on a proposal that would achieve this goal without occasioning any significant financial commitment from the state. In February 1960 the society's


title: "Kilmainham Gaol" content: detailed plan for the restoration project, which notably also envisioned the site's development as a tourist attraction, received the approval of the notoriously parsimonious Department of Finance. The formal handing over of prison keys to a board of trustees, composed of five members nominated by the society and two by the government, occurred in May 1960. The trustees were charged a nominal rent of one penny rent per annum to extend for a period of five years at which point it was envisaged that the restored prison would be permanently transferred to the trustees' custodial care. Commencing with a workforce


title: "Kilmainham Gaol" content: of sixty volunteers in May 1960, the society set about clearing the overgrown vegetation, trees, fallen masonry and bird droppings from the site. By 1962 the symbolically important prison yard where the leaders of the 1916 rising were executed had been cleared of rubble and weeds and the restoration of the Victorian section of the prison was nearing completion. The final restoration of the site was completed in 1971 when Kilmainham Gaol chapel was re-opened to the public having been reroofed and refloored and with its altar reconstructed. The Magill family acted as residential caretakers, in particular Joe Magill who


title: "Kilmainham Gaol" content: worked on the restoration of the gaol from the start until the Gaol was handed over to the Office of Public works . It now houses a museum on the history of Irish nationalism and offers guided tours of the building. An art gallery on the top floor exhibits paintings, sculptures and jewelry of prisoners incarcerated in prisons all over contemporary Ireland. Kilmainham Gaol is one of the biggest unoccupied prisons in Europe. Now empty of prisoners, it is filled with history. Since its restoration, Kilmainham Gaol has been understood as one of the most important Irish monuments of the


title: "Kilmainham Gaol" content: modern period, in relation to the narrative of the struggle for Irish independence. In the period of time extending from its opening in 1796 until its decommissioning in 1924 it has been, barring the notable exceptions of Daniel O'Connell and Michael Collins, a site of incarceration of significant Irish nationalist leaders of both the constitutional and physical force traditions. Thus, its history as an institution is intimately linked with the story of Irish nationalism. The majority of the Irish leaders in the rebellions of 1798, 1803, 1848, 1867 and 1916 were imprisoned there. It also housed prisoners during the Irish


title: "Kilmainham Gaol" content: War of Independence (1919–21) and many of the anti-treaty forces during the civil war period. Charles Stewart Parnell was imprisoned in Kilmainham Gaol, along with most of his parliamentary colleagues, in 1881-82 when he signed the Kilmainham Treaty with William Gladstone. Edmund Wellisha, the head guard at the prison, was convicted of undernourishing prisoners in support of the rebellion. The following films have been filmed at Kilmainham Gaol: A music video for the U2 song "A Celebration" was filmed in Kilmainham Gaol in July 1982. The prison was also used in the 2012 BBC series "Ripper Street" and the 2011


title: "Kilmainham Gaol" content: series of ITV's "Primeval". More photographs in Kilmainham Gaol Kilmainham Gaol () is a former prison in Kilmainham, Dublin, Ireland. It is now a museum run by the Office of Public Works, an agency of the Government of Ireland. Many Irish revolutionaries, including the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising, were imprisoned and executed in the prison by the British. When it was first built in 1796, Kilmainham Gaol was called the "New Gaol" to distinguish it from the old prison it was intended to replace – a noisome dungeon, just a few hundred metres from the present site. It


title: "Australian magpie" content: Australian magpie The Australian magpie ("Gymnorhina tibicen") is a medium-sized black and white passerine bird native to Australia and southern New Guinea. Although once considered to be three separate species, it is now considered to be one, with nine recognised subspecies. A member of the Artamidae, the Australian magpie is placed in its own genus "Gymnorhina" and is most closely related to the black butcherbird ("Melloria quoyi"). It is not, however, closely related to the European magpie, which is a corvid. The adult Australian magpie is a fairly robust bird ranging from in length, with distinctive black and white plumage,


title: "Australian magpie" content: gold brown eyes and a solid wedge-shaped bluish-white and black bill. The male and female are similar in appearance, and can be distinguished by differences in back markings. The male has pure white feathers on the back of the head and the female has white blending to grey feathers on the back of the head. With its long legs, the Australian magpie walks rather than waddles or hops and spends much time on the ground. Described as one of Australia's most accomplished songbirds, the Australian magpie has an array of complex vocalisations. It is omnivorous, with the bulk of its


title: "Australian magpie" content: varied diet made up of invertebrates. It is generally sedentary and territorial throughout its range. Common and widespread, it has adapted well to human habitation and is a familiar bird of parks, gardens and farmland in Australia and New Guinea. This species is commonly fed by households around the country, but in spring a small minority of breeding magpies (almost always males) become aggressive and swoop and attack those who approach their nests. Over 1000 Australian magpies were introduced into New Zealand from 1864 to 1874 but have subsequently been accused of displacing native birds and are now treated as


title: "Australian magpie" content: a pest species. Introductions also occurred in the Solomon Islands and Fiji, where the birds are not considered an invasive species. The Australian magpie is the mascot of several Australian sporting teams, most notably the Collingwood Magpies, the Western Suburbs Magpies and Port Adelaide Magpies. The Australian magpie was first described by English ornithologist John Latham in 1801 as "Coracias tibicen", the type collected in the Port Jackson region. Its specific epithet derived from the Latin "tibicen" "flute-player" or "piper" in reference to the bird's melodious call. An early recorded vernacular name is "piping poller", written on a painting by


title: "Australian magpie" content: Thomas Watling, one of a group known collectively as the Port Jackson Painter, sometime between 1788 and 1792. "Tarra-won-nang", or "djarrawunang", "wibung", and "marriyang" were names used by the local Eora and Darug inhabitants of the Sydney Basin. "Booroogong" and "garoogong" were Wiradjuri words, and "carrak" was a Jardwadjali term from Victoria. Among the Kamilaroi, it is "burrugaabu", "galalu", or "guluu". It was known as "Warndurla" among the Yindjibarndi people of the central and western Pilbara. Other names used include "piping crow-shrike", "piper", "maggie", "flute-bird" and "organ-bird". The term "bell-magpie" was proposed to help distinguish it from the European magpie


title: "Australian magpie" content: but failed to gain wide acceptance. The bird was named for its similarity in colouration to the European magpie; it was a common practice for early settlers to name plants and animals after European counterparts. However, the European magpie is a member of the Corvidae, while its Australian counterpart is placed in the family Artamidae (although both are members of a broad corvid lineage). The Australian magpie's affinities with butcherbirds and currawongs were recognised early on and the three genera were placed in the family Cracticidae in 1914 by John Albert Leach after he had studied their musculature. American ornithologists


title: "Australian magpie" content: Charles Sibley and Jon Ahlquist recognised the close relationship between woodswallows and the butcherbirds in 1985, and combined them into a Cracticini clade, in the Artamidae. The Australian magpie is placed in its own monotypic genus "Gymnorhina" which was introduced by the English zoologist George Robert Gray in 1840. The name of the genus is from the Ancient Greek "gumnos" for "naked" or "bare" and "rhis", "rhinos" "nostrils". Some authorities such as Glen Storr in 1952 and Leslie Christidis and Walter Boles in their 2008 checklist, have placed the Australian magpie in the butcherbird genus "Cracticus", arguing that its adaptation


title: "Australian magpie" content: to ground-living is not enough to consider it a separate genus. A molecular genetic study published in a 2013 showed that the Australian magpie is a sister taxon to the black butcherbird ("Melloria quoyi") and that the two species are in turn sister to a clade that includes the other butcherbirds in the genus "Cracticus". The ancestor to the two species is thought to have split from the other butcherbirds between 8.3 and 4.2 million years ago, during the late Miocene to early Pliocene, while the two species themselves diverged sometime during the Pliocene (5.8–3.0 million years ago). The Australian


title: "Australian magpie" content: magpie was subdivided into three species in the literature for much of the twentieth century—the black-backed magpie ("G. tibicen"), the white-backed magpie ("G. hypoleuca"), and the western magpie ("G. dorsalis"). They were later noted to hybridise readily where their territories crossed, with hybrid grey or striped-backed magpies being quite common. This resulted in them being reclassified as one species by Julian Ford in 1969, with most recent authors following suit. There are currently thought to be nine subspecies of the Australian magpie, although there are large zones of overlap with intermediate forms between the taxa. There is a tendency for


title: "Australian magpie" content: birds to become larger with increasing latitude, the southern subspecies being larger than those further north, except the Tasmanian form which is small. The original form, known as the black-backed magpie and classified as "Gymnorhina tibicen", has been split into four black-backed races: The white-backed magpie, originally described as "Gymnorhina hypoleuca" by John Gould in 1837, has also been split into races: The adult magpie is a fairly solid, sturdy bird ranging from in length with a wingspan, and weighing . Its robust wedge-shaped bill is bluish-white bordered with black, with a small hook at the tip. The black legs


title: "Australian magpie" content: are long and strong. The plumage is pure glossy black and white; both sexes of all subspecies have black heads, wings and underparts with white shoulders. The tail has a black terminal band. The nape is white in the male and light greyish-white in the female. Mature magpies have dull red eyes, in contrast to the yellow eyes of currawongs and white eyes of Australian ravens and crows. The main difference between the subspecies lies in the "saddle" markings on the back below the nape. Black-backed subspecies have a black saddle and white nape. White-backed subspecies have a wholly white


title: "Australian magpie" content: nape and saddle. The male Western Australian subspecies "dorsalis" is also white-backed, but the equivalent area in the female is scalloped black. Juveniles have lighter greys and browns amidst the starker blacks and whites of their plumage; two- or three-year-old birds of both sexes closely resemble and are difficult to distinguish from adult females. Immature birds have dark brownish eyes until around two years of age. Australian magpies generally live to around 25 years of age, though ages of up to 30 years have been recorded. The reported age of first breeding has varied according to area, but the average


title: "Australian magpie" content: is between the ages of three and five years. Well-known and easily recognisable, the Australian magpie is unlikely to be confused with any other species. The pied butcherbird has a similar build and plumage, but has white underparts unlike the former species' black underparts. The magpie-lark is a much smaller and more delicate bird with complex and very different banded black and white plumage. Currawong species have predominantly dark plumage and heavier bills. One of Australia's most highly regarded songbirds, the Australian magpie has a wide variety of calls, many of which are complex. Pitch may vary as much as


title: "Australian magpie" content: four octaves, and the bird can mimic over 35 species of native and introduced bird species, as well as dogs and horses. Magpies have even been noted to mimic human speech when living in close proximity to humans. Its complex, musical, warbling call is one of the most familiar Australian bird sounds. In Denis Glover's poem "The Magpies", the mature magpie's call is described as "quardle oodle ardle wardle doodle", one of the most famous lines in New Zealand poetry, and as "waddle giggle gargle paddle poodle", in the children's book "Waddle Giggle Gargle" by Pamela Allen. When alone, a


title: "Australian magpie" content: magpie may make a quiet musical warbling; these complex melodious warbles or subsongs are pitched at 2–4 KHz and do not carry for long distances. These songs have been recorded up to 70 minutes in duration and are more frequent after the end of the breeding season. Pairs of magpies often take up a loud musical calling known as "carolling" to advertise or defend their territory; one bird initiates the call with the second (and sometimes more) joining in. Often preceded by warbling, carolling is pitched between 6 and 8 kHz and has 4–5 elements with slurring indistinct noise in


title: "Australian magpie" content: between. Birds will adopt a specific posture by tilting their heads back, expanding their chests, and moving their wings backwards. A group of magpies will sing a short repetitive version of carolling just before dawn ("dawn song"), and at twilight after sundown ("dusk song"), in winter and spring. Fledgling and juvenile magpies emit a repeated short and loud (80 dB), high-pitched (8 kHz) begging call. Magpies may indulge in beak-clapping to warn other species of birds. They employ several high pitched (8–10 kHz) alarm or rallying calls when intruders or threats are spotted. Distinct calls have been recorded for the


title: "Australian magpie" content: approach of eagles and monitor lizards. The Australian magpie is found in the Trans-Fly region of southern New Guinea, between the Oriomo River and Muli Strait, and across most of Australia, bar the tip of Cape York, the Gibson and Great Sandy Deserts, and southwest of Tasmania. Birds taken mainly from Tasmania and Victoria were introduced into New Zealand by local Acclimatisation Societies of Otago and Canterbury in the 1860s, with the Wellington Acclimatisation Society releasing 260 birds in 1874. White-backed forms are spread on both the North and eastern South Island, while black-backed forms are found in the Hawke's


title: "Australian magpie" content: Bay region. Magpies were introduced into New Zealand to control agricultural pests, and were therefore a protected species until 1951. They are thought to affect native New Zealand bird populations such as the tui and kereru, sometimes raiding nests for eggs and nestlings, although studies by Waikato University have cast doubt on this, and much blame on the magpie as a predator in the past has been anecdotal only. Introductions also occurred in the Solomon Islands and Sri Lanka, although the species has failed to become established. It has become established in western Taveuni in Fiji, however. The Australian magpie


title: "Australian magpie" content: prefers open areas such as grassland, fields and residential areas such as parks, gardens, golf courses, and streets, with scattered trees or forest nearby. Birds nest and shelter in trees but forage mainly on the ground in these open areas. It has also been recorded in mature pine plantations; birds only occupy rainforest and wet sclerophyll forest in the vicinity of cleared areas. In general, evidence suggests the range and population of the Australian magpie has increased with land-clearing, although local declines in Queensland due to a 1902 drought, and in Tasmania in the 1930s have been noted; the cause


title: "Australian magpie" content: for the latter is unclear but rabbit baiting, pine tree removal, and spread of the masked lapwing ("Vanellus miles") have been implicated. The Australian magpie is almost exclusively diurnal, although it may call into the night, like some other members of the Artamidae. Natural predators of magpies include various species of monitor lizard and the barking owl. Birds are often killed on roads or electrocuted by powerlines, or poisoned after killing and eating house sparrows or mice, rats or rabbits targeted with baiting. The Australian raven may take nestlings left unattended. On the ground, the Australian magpie moves around by


title: "Australian magpie" content: 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 magpie is generally sedentary and territorial throughout its range, living in groups occupying a territory, or in flocks or fringe groups. A group may occupy and defend the same territory for many years. Much energy is spent defending a territory from intruders, particularly other magpies,


title: "Australian magpie" content: and different behaviours are seen with different opponents. The sight of a raptor results in a rallying call by sentinel birds and subsequent coordinated mobbing of the intruder. Magpies place themselves either side of the bird of prey so that it will be attacked from behind should it strike a defender, and harass and drive the raptor to some distance beyond the territory. A group will use carolling as a signal to advertise ownership and warn off other magpies. In the "negotiating display", the one or two dominant magpies parade along the border of the defended territory while the rest


title: "Australian magpie" content: of the group stand back a little and look on. The leaders may fluff their feathers or caroll repeatedly. In a "group strength display", employed if both the opposing and defending groups are of roughly equal numbers, all magpies will fly and form a row at the border of the territory. The defending group may also resort to an aerial display where the dominant magpies, or sometimes the whole group, swoop and dive while calling to warn an intruding magpie's group. A wide variety of displays are seen, with aggressive behaviours outnumbering pro-social ones. Crouching low and uttering quiet begging


title: "Australian magpie" content: calls are common signs of submission. The "manus flutter" is a submissive display where a magpie will flutter its primary feathers in its wings. A magpie, particularly a juvenile, may also fall, roll over on its back and expose its underparts. Birds may fluff up their flank feathers as an aggressive display or preceding an attack. Young birds display various forms of play behaviour, either by themselves or in groups, with older birds often initiating the proceedings with juveniles. These may involve picking up, manipulating or tugging at various objects such as sticks, rocks or bits of wire, and handing


title: "Australian magpie" content: them to other birds. A bird may pick up a feather or leaf and flying off with it, with other birds pursuing and attempting to bring down the leader by latching onto its tail feathers. Birds may jump on each other and even engage in mock fighting. Play may even take place with other species such as blue-faced honeyeaters and Australasian pipits. Magpies have a long breeding season which varies in different parts of the country; in northern parts of Australia they will breed between June and September, but not commence until August or September in cooler regions, and may


title: "Australian magpie" content: 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. Near human habitation, synthetic material may be incorporated. Nests are built exclusively by females and generally placed high up in a tree fork, often in an exposed position. The trees used are most commonly eucalypts, although a variety of other native trees as well as introduced pine, "Crataegus", and elm have been recorded. Other bird species, such as the yellow-rumped thornbill ("Acanthiza chrysorrhoa"), willie wagtail ("Rhipidura leucophrys"), southern whiteface ("Aphelocephala leucopsis"), and (less commonly)


title: "Australian magpie" content: noisy miner ("Manorina melanocephala"), often nest in the same tree as the magpie. The first two species may even locate their nest directly beneath a magpie nest, while the diminutive striated pardalote ("Pardalotus striatus") has been known to make a burrow for breeding into the base of the magpie nest itself. These incursions are all tolerated by the magpies. The channel-billed cuckoo ("Scythrops novaehollandiae") is a notable brood parasite in eastern Australia; magpies will raise cuckoo young, which eventually outcompete the magpie nestlings. The Australian magpie produces a clutch of two to five light blue or greenish eggs, which are


title: "Australian magpie" content: oval in shape and about . The chicks hatch synchronously around 20 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. Their eyes are fully open at around 10 days. Chicks develop fine downy feathers on their head, back and wings in the first week, and pinfeathers in the second week. The black and white colouration is noticeable from an early stage. Nestlings are fed exclusively by the female, though the male magpie will feed his partner. The Australian magpie


title: "Australian magpie" content: is known to engage in cooperative breeding, and helper birds will assist in feeding and raising young. This does vary from region to region, and with the size of the group—the behaviour is rare or nonexistent in pairs or small groups. Juvenile magpies begin foraging on their own three weeks after leaving the nest, and mostly feeding themselves by six months old. Some birds continue begging for food until eight or nine months of age, but are usually ignored. Birds reach adult size by their first year. The age at which young birds disperse varies across the country, and depends


title: "Australian magpie" content: on the aggressiveness of the dominant adult of the corresponding sex; males are usually evicted at a younger age. Many leave at around a year old, but the age of departure may range from eight months to four years. The Australian 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, beetles, cicadas, moths and caterpillars and other larvae. Insects, including large adult grasshoppers, may be seized mid-flight. Skinks, frogs, mice and other small animals as well as grain,


title: "Australian magpie" content: tubers, figs and walnuts have also been noted as components of their diet. It has even learnt to safely eat the poisonous cane toad by flipping it over and consuming the underparts. Predominantly a ground feeder, the Australian magpie paces open areas methodically searching for insects and their larvae. One study showed birds were able to find scarab beetle larvae by sound or vibration. Birds use their bills to probe into the earth or otherwise overturn debris in search of food. Smaller prey are swallowed whole, although magpies rub off the stingers of bees and wasps before swallowing. Magpies are


title: "Australian magpie" content: ubiquitous in urban areas all over Australia, and have become accustomed to people. A small percentage of birds become highly aggressive during breeding season from late August to early - mid October, and will swoop and sometimes attack passersby. The percentage has been difficult to estimate but is significantly less than 9%. Almost all attacking birds (around 99%) are male, and they are generally known to attack pedestrians at around from their nest, and cyclists at around . There appears to be some specificity in choice of attack targets, with the majority of individuals specializing on either pedestrians or cyclists.


title: "Australian magpie" content: Attacks begin as the eggs hatch, increase in frequency and severity as the chicks grow, and tail off as the chicks leave the nest. These magpies may engage in an escalating series of behaviours to drive off intruders. Least threatening are alarm calls and distant swoops, where birds fly within several metres from behind and perch nearby. Next in intensity are close swoops, where a magpie will swoop in from behind or the side and audibly "snap" their beaks or even peck or bite at the face, neck, ears or eyes. More rarely, a bird may dive-bomb and strike the


title: "Australian magpie" content: intruder's (usually a cyclist's) head with its chest. A magpie may rarely attack by landing on the ground in front of a person and lurching up and landing on the victim's chest and pecking at the face and eyes. Magpie attacks can cause injuries, typically wounds to the head, and being unexpectedly swooped while cycling can result in loss of control of the bicycle, which may cause injury. If it is necessary to walk near the nest, wearing a broad-brimmed or legionnaire's hat or using an umbrella will deter attacking birds, but beanies and bicycle helmets are of little value


title: "Australian magpie" content: as birds attack the sides of the head and neck. Magpies prefer to swoop at the back of the head; therefore, keeping the magpie in sight at all times can discourage the bird. A basic disguise such as sunglasses worn on the back of the head may fool the magpie as to where a person is looking. Eyes painted on hats or helmets will deter attacks on pedestrians but not cyclists. Cyclists can deter attack by attaching a long pole with a flag to a bike, and the use of cable ties on helmets has become common and appears to


title: "Australian magpie" content: be effective. Magpies are a protected native species in Australia, so it is illegal to kill or harm them. However, this protection is removed in some Australian states if a magpie attacks a human, allowing for the bird to be killed if it is considered particularly aggressive (such a provision is made, for example, in section 54 of the South Australian National Parks and Wildlife Act). More commonly, an aggressive bird will be caught and relocated to an unpopulated area. Magpies have to be moved some distance as almost all are able to find their way home from distances of


title: "Australian magpie" content: less than . Removing the nest is of no use as birds will breed again and possibly be more aggressive the second time around. Some claim that swooping can be prevented by hand-feeding magpies. Magpies will become accustomed to being fed by humans, and although they are wild, will return to the same place looking for handouts. The idea is that humans thereby appear less of a threat to the nesting birds. Although this has not been studied systematically, there are reports of its success. The Australian magpie featured in aboriginal folklore around Australia. The Yindjibarndi people of the Pilbara


title: "Australian magpie" content: in the northwest of the country used the bird as a signal for sunrise, frightening them awake with its call. They were also familiar with its highly territorial nature, and it features in a song in their "Burndud", or songs of customs. It was a totem bird of the people of the Illawarra region south of Sydney. Under the name piping shrike, the white-backed magpie was declared the official emblem of the Government of South Australia in 1901 by Governor Tennyson, and has featured on the South Australian flag since 1904. The magpie is a commonly used emblem of sporting


title: "Australian magpie" content: teams in Australia, and its brash, cocky attitude has been likened to the Australian psyche. Such teams tend to wear uniforms with black and white stripes. The Collingwood Football Club adopted the magpie from a visiting South Australian representative team in 1892. The Port Adelaide Magpies would similarly adopt the black and white colours and Magpie name in 1902. Other examples include Brisbane's Souths Logan Magpies, and Sydney's Western Suburbs Magpies. Disputes over who has been the first club to adopt the magpie emblem have been heated at times. Another club, Glenorchy Football Club of Tasmania, was forced to change


title: "Australian magpie" content: uniform design when placed in the same league as another club (Claremont Magpies) with the same emblem. In New Zealand, the Hawke's Bay Rugby Union team, from Napier, New Zealand, is also known as the magpies. One of the best-known New Zealand poems is "The Magpies" by Denis Glover, with its refrain "Quardle oodle ardle wardle doodle", imitating the sound of the bird – and the popular New Zealand comic "Footrot Flats" features a magpie character by the name of Pew. An online poll conducted by "Guardian Australia" and BirdLife Australia was held in late 2017 to choose the "Australian


title: "Australian magpie" content: Bird of the Year". The Australian magpie won the contest with 19,926 votes (13.3%), narrowly ahead of the Australian white ibis. Australian magpie The Australian magpie ("Gymnorhina tibicen") is a medium-sized black and white passerine bird native to Australia and southern New Guinea. Although once considered to be three separate species, it is now considered to be one, with nine recognised subspecies. A member of the Artamidae, the Australian magpie is placed in its own genus "Gymnorhina" and is most closely related to the black butcherbird ("Melloria quoyi"). It is not, however, closely related to the European magpie, which is


title: "Yellow-billed magpie" content: Yellow-billed magpie The yellow-billed magpie ("Pica nutalli") is a large bird in the crow family that is restricted to the U.S. state of California. It inhabits the Central Valley and the adjacent chaparral foothills and mountains. Apart from its having a yellow bill and a yellow streak around the eye, it is virtually identical to the black-billed magpie "(Pica hudsonia)" found in much of the rest of North America. The scientific name commemorates the English naturalist Thomas Nuttall. mtDNA sequence analysis indicates a close relationship between the yellow-billed magpie and the black-billed magpie, rather than between the outwardly very similar


title: "Yellow-billed magpie" content: black-billed and European magpies ("P. pica"); the two American forms could be considered as one species. The Korean subspecies of the European magpie ("P. p. sericea") is more distantly related to all other (including North American) forms judging from the molecular evidence, and thus, either the North American forms are maintained as specifically distinct and the Korean (and possibly related) subspecies are also elevated to species status, or all magpies are considered to be subspecies of a single species, "Pica pica". Combining fossil evidence and paleobiogeographical considerations with the molecular data indicates that the yellow-billed magpie's ancestors became isolated in


title: "Yellow-billed magpie" content: California quite soon after the ancestral magpies colonized North America (which probably happened some 3–4 mya) due to early ice ages and the ongoing uplift of the Sierra Nevada, but that during interglacials there occurred some gene flow between the yellow- and black-billed magpies until reproductive isolation was fully achieved in the Pleistocene. The yellow-billed magpie is adapted to the hot summers of California's Central Valley and experiences less heat stress than the black-billed magpie. The yellow-billed magpie is gregarious and roosts communally. There may be a cluster of communal roosts in one general area made up of a central


title: "Yellow-billed magpie" content: roost containing many birds and several outlying roosts with fewer. Yellow-billed magpie flocks are known to engage in funeral-like behavior for their dead. The yellow-billed magpie prefers groves of tall trees along rivers and near open areas, though in some cities they have begun to nest in vacant lots and other weedy places. A pair of birds builds a dome-shaped nest with sticks and mud on a high branch. Nests may be 14 meters above the ground and are sometimes built far out on long branches to prevent predators from reaching them. They nest in small colonies, or occasionally alone.


title: "Yellow-billed magpie" content: Even when nesting close to other birds they may exhibit some territorial behavior. These birds are permanent residents and do not usually wander far outside of their breeding range. Extra-pair copulation is not uncommon among yellow-billed magpies. After mating, a male will exhibit mate-guarding, preventing the female from mating with other males until she lays the first egg. The clutch contains 5 to 7 eggs which are incubated by the female for 16 to 18 days. Both parents feed the nestlings a diet of mostly insects until fledging occurs in 30 days. These omnivorous birds forage on the ground, mainly


title: "Yellow-billed magpie" content: eating insects, especially grasshoppers, but also carrion, acorns and fruit in fall and winter. They are attracted to recently butchered carcasses on farms and ranches. They pick through garbage at landfills and dumping sites, and sometimes hunt rodents. This bird is extremely susceptible to West Nile virus. Between 2004 and 2006 it is estimated that 50% of all yellow-billed magpies died of the virus. Because the bird tends to roost near water bodies such as rivers, it is often exposed to mosquitoes. The IUCN classifies the bird as a near threatened species. The Nature Conservancy places it in the vulnerable


title: "Yellow-billed magpie" content: category. Besides West Nile Virus, threats include loss of habitat and rodent poison. The bird has a limited area of distribution but is widespread throughout the area and still common in many places. Yellow-billed magpie The yellow-billed magpie ("Pica nutalli") is a large bird in the crow family that is restricted to the U.S. state of California. It inhabits the Central Valley and the adjacent chaparral foothills and mountains. Apart from its having a yellow bill and a yellow streak around the eye, it is virtually identical to the black-billed magpie "(Pica hudsonia)" found in much of the rest of


title: "Black-billed magpie" content: Black-billed magpie The black-billed magpie ("Pica hudsonia"), also known as the American magpie, is a bird in the crow family that inhabits the western half of North America, from Colorado, to southern coastal Alaska to northern California, northern Nevada, northern Arizona, northern New Mexico, central Kansas, and Nebraska. It is black and white, with black areas on the wings and tail showing iridescent hints of blue or blue-green. It is one of only four North American songbirds whose tail makes up half or more of the total body length (the others being the yellow-billed magpie, the scissor-tailed flycatcher, and the


title: "Black-billed magpie" content: fork-tailed flycatcher). This species prefers generally open habitats with clumps of trees. It can therefore be found in farmlands and suburban areas, where it comes into regular contact with people. Where persecuted it becomes very wary, but otherwise it is fairly tolerant of human presence. Historically associated with bison herds, it now lands on the back of cattle to clean ticks and insects from them. Large predators such as wolves are commonly followed by black-billed magpies, who scavenge from their kills. The species also walks on the ground, where it obtains such food items as beetles, grasshoppers, worms, and small


title: "Black-billed magpie" content: rodents. The black-billed magpie is one of the few North American birds that build a domed nest. This nest is made up of twigs and sits near the top of trees. Usually 6–7 eggs are laid. Incubation, by the female only, starts when the clutch is complete, and lasts 16–21 days. The nestling period is 3–4 weeks. Externally, The black-billed magpie is almost identical to the European magpie, "Pica pica", and is considered conspecific by many sources. The American Ornithologists' Union, however, splits it as a separate species, "Pica hudsonia", on the grounds that its mtDNA sequence is closer to


title: "Black-billed magpie" content: that of California's yellow-billed magpie, "Pica nuttalli", than to the European magpie. If this view is correct, the Korean subspecies of the European magpie, "Pica pica sericea", should also be considered a separate species. It appears that after the ancestral magpie spread over Eurasia, the Korean population became isolated, at which point the species crossed the Bering Land Bridge and colonized North America, where the two American magpies then differentiated. Fossil evidence indicates that the ancestral North American magpie had arrived in its current range around the mid-Pliocene (3–4 mya) and that the yellow-billed magpie lineage split off rather soon


title: "Black-billed magpie" content: thereafter due to the Sierra Nevada uplift and the beginning ice ages. A comparatively low genetic difference, however, suggests that some gene flow between the black-billed and yellow-billed magpies still occurred during interglacial periods until the Pleistocene. The adult black-billed magpie is long and weighs . Males are generally 6–9% larger and 16–20% heavier than females. The tail is long and makes up half of the bird's length. Wingspan is about . The bird is black with white shoulders, a white belly, and iridescent dark blue-green wings and tail. There are large white markings on the primaries, clearly visible in


title: "Black-billed magpie" content: flight. The feet and bill are black. Black-billed magpies range in the north from coastal southern Alaska, central British Columbia, and the southern halves of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, through the Rocky Mountains down south to all the Rocky Mountain states including New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, and some bordering states as well. The range extends as far east as northern Minnesota and Iowa, with casual records in northern Wisconsin and upper Michigan, but is thought to be limited further east and south by high temperature and humidity. Black-billed magpies frequent open country with thickets and scattered trees, especially


title: "Black-billed magpie" content: riparian groves. They can be found near farms and within cities and suburbs. Dry open pine forests are another possible habitat. The black-billed magpie is an opportunistic omnivore, eating many types of insects, carrion, seeds, rodents, berries, nuts, eggs, and also garbage and food from pets that are fed outside. Chicks are fed animal matter almost exclusively. Magpies typically forage on the ground, usually walking, sometimes hopping, and sometimes scratching with their feet to turn over ground litter. They sometimes land on large mammals, such as moose or cattle, to pick at the ticks that often plague these animals. They


title: "Black-billed magpie" content: often follow large predators, such as wolves, to scavenge or steal from their kills. Black-billed magpies are also known to make food caches in the ground, in scatter-hoarding fashion. To make a cache, the bird pushes or hammers its bill into the ground (or snow), forming a small hole into which it deposits the food items it was holding in a small pouch under its tongue. It may, however, then move the food to another location, particularly if other magpies are in the vicinity, watching. Cache robbing is fairly common so a magpie often makes several false caches before a


title: "Black-billed magpie" content: real one. The final cache is covered with grass, leaves, or twigs. After this the bird cocks its head and stares at the cache, possibly to commit the site to memory. Such hoards are short-term; the food is usually recovered within several days, or the bird never returns. The bird relocates its caches by sight and also by smell; during cache robbing, smell is probably the primary cue. Adult black-billed magpie pairs stay together year-round and often for life unless one dies, in which case the remaining magpie may find another mate. Divorces are possible: one South Dakota study found


title: "Black-billed magpie" content: low rates of divorce (8%) but one 7-year study in Alberta found divorce rates up to 63%. Black-billed magpies nest individually, frequently toward the top of deciduous or evergreen trees. Only the nest tree and its immediate surroundings are defended, and so it is possible for nests to be somewhat clumped in space. When this happens (usually in areas with a limited number of trees or with abundant food resources), a diffuse colony is formed. In this the black-billed magpie is intermediate between the European magpie, whose nests are much more spread out because a large territory is defended around


title: "Black-billed magpie" content: each nest, and the yellow-billed magpie, which is always loosely colonial. Nests are loose but large accumulations of branches, twigs, mud, grass, rootlets, bark strips, vines, needles, and other materials, with branches and twigs constituting the base and framework. The nest cup is lined with fine rootlets, grass, and other soft material. Nests almost always include a hood or dome of loosely assembled twigs and branches, and usually have one or more side entrances. Nests are built by both sexes over 40–50 days, starting in February (though later in northern parts of the range). Old nests can be repaired and


title: "Black-billed magpie" content: used, or a new nest can be built on top, with older nests thus reaching 120 cm high by 100 cm wide (48 inches high by 40 inches wide). Other bird species, including small hawks and owls, often use old magpie nests. The breeding season for magpies is generally from late March to early July. They nest once a year, but may re-nest if their first attempt fails early. The female lays up to thirteen eggs, but the usual clutch size is six or seven. The eggs are greenish grey, marked with browns, and 33 mm (about 1.3 inch) long.


title: "Black-billed magpie" content: Only the female incubates, for 16–21 days. The male feeds the female throughout incubation. Hatching is often asynchronous. Hatched young are altricial, brooded by the female but fed by both sexes. They fly 3–4 weeks after hatching, feed with adults for about two months, and then fly off to join other juvenile magpies. Fledging success (usually 3–4 young per nest) is lower than clutch size; this is not an unusual state of affairs in species with asynchronous hatching, as some nestlings often die of starvation. Black-billed magpies breed for the first time at 1 or 2 years of age. The


title: "Black-billed magpie" content: lifespan of the species in the wild is about four to six years. The most common calls of this bird are a nasal inquisitive "mag mag mag" or "yak yak yak" uttered in a much higher pitch than that of the European magpies. Many other calls also exist such as begging calls by females to their mate, by young to their parents, idle songbird chatter, and distress calls when seized by predators. This species is mainly a permanent resident. Some birds may move short distances south or to lower elevations in winter, while others may erratically wander east after the


title: "Black-billed magpie" content: breeding season. The black-billed magpie often forms loose flocks outside of the breeding season. Dominance hierarchies may develop within such flocks. Dominants can steal food from subordinates. Aggressive interactions also occur at point sources of food. Surprisingly, young males are often dominant over – or maybe just tolerated by – adult males. Like American crows, magpies tend to roost communally in winter. Every evening they fly, often in groups and sometimes over long distances, to reach safe roosting sites such as dense trees or shrubs that impede predator movement, or, at higher latitudes, dense conifers that afford good wind protection.


title: "Black-billed magpie" content: In Canada they arrive at the roosting site earlier in the evening and leave later in the morning on colder days. At the roosting site they tend to occupy trees singly; they do not huddle. They sleep with the bill tucked under the scapular (shoulder) and back feathers, adopting this position sooner on colder nights. During the night they may also regurgitate, in the form of pellets, the undigested parts of what they ate during the day. Such pellets can be found on the ground and then used to determine at least part of the birds' diet. Like other corvids,


title: "Black-billed magpie" content: black-billed magpies indulge in anting (applying ants onto their plumage) and sun-bathing (back facing the sun, head down, wings drooped and spread wide, tail fanned, back feathers fluffed up). They also belong to that group of birds that scratch their head with their foot over the wing. Molt begins earlier in males than in females, and in second-year birds than in older ones. Primaries, secondaries, tertials and rectrices are replaced sequentially, so the bird can still fly during molting. Level flight is relatively slow. Maximum sustained speed is . Non-flapping phases are often interspersed throughout the flight. Changes in direction


title: "Black-billed magpie" content: can be extremely quick, probably helped by the bird's long tail. When Lewis and Clark first encountered magpies in 1804 in South Dakota, they reported the birds as being very bold, entering tents or taking food from the hand. Magpies formerly followed American bison herds (from which they gleaned ticks and insects), as well as the bands of Plains Indians that hunted the bison so they could scavenge carcasses. When the bison herds were devastated in the 1870s, magpies switched to cattle, and by the 1960s they had also moved into the emerging towns and cities of the North American