Magpie

This little guy in the photo is a magpie. I photographed this particular bird in Oslo, but we have tons of them in our own yard. I guess magpies exist on the west coast of the U.S., but I had never seen one until we moved to Norway. Magpies are related to crows, ravens and jays and are known for being very intelligent, curious and talkative (hence the phrase "chattering magpies"). These birds can mimic the calls of other birds and can even learn to imitate some human words. I'm pretty excited about the prospect of teaching our little Norwegian magpies some English...hmm, it might be a little depressing if the magpies can learn English faster than I can learn Norwegian!