• Although the average lifespan of magpies is five years, the longest lived specimen was 21 years, 8 months, and 23 days old when it died in 1947.
  • With distinctive black & white plumage and raucous nature magpies cannot be confused with any other Irish bird.
  • The magpie is Ireland’s best-known member of the crow family.
  • Although the plumage looks black and white in actual fact the black feathers are purple-blue iridescent sheen on the wing feathers, and there is a green gloss to the tail.
    Magpies use their long black legs to walk and quite often to hop along the ground.
  • It is believed that magpies were first recorded in Wexford in 1676 when up to a dozen flew across the Irish sea from Britain. Breeding in Dublin was first noted in 1852.
  • Although the average lifespan of magpies is five years, the longest-lived specimen was 21 years, 8 months, and 23 days old when it died in 1947.
  • We all know the rhyme “One for sorrow, Two for joy, Three for a girl, Four for a boy, Five for silver, Six for gold, Seven for a secret never to be told.”