Meet the Australian Woman Who Gives Toys to Wild Magpies

Magpies are often misunderstood birds. In spite of their beauty, they’re often seen as scavengers and pests, due to their behavior towards other birds and their chicks. But to Danielle, the magpie that began visiting her back yard everyday made her curious, and she decided to get to know him better.

When she first started interacting with the magpie, she was struck by the fact that he followed her around happily, and would even climb on her knee when she sat down to greet him.

Danielle was even more amazed when he brought his son along to interact with her. Not before long, she had more than twenty magpies in the back yard, curiously checking out this friendly human who was willing to interact with them.

As Danielle sat back and observed the magpie’s behavior, she noticed that they loved playing on the clothesline and spent a lot of time hanging upside down while her washing was out to dry.

She decided to turn her backyard into a magpie playground, and even introduced a variety of toys for the birds to play with. Within hours of putting the toys out, she was delighted to see the magpies playing with them.

Just as human kids do, Danielle noticed that the magpies squabbled over certain toys, and even began play fighting with each other, as some of the toys seemed more intriguing to them than others.

But Danielle enjoys the true sense of purpose that these birds give to her in life. As someone who struggles with anxiety and depression, she enjoys the company that they give her, and she’s truly ecstatic when they follow her around her back yard. Even more so when they accompany her on her walk home.

After forming an extremely close bond with the magpies that visited her garden, Danielle became a wildlife carer, and now works to rehabilitate and rescue injured birds in Australia.