In the Karangahake lives a flightless magpie with a knack for tui impressions.
She steals puzzle pieces and plays with soft toys, sits on the cat, and gets caught on security cameras snooping out the neighbour’s place.
She’s an unorthodox pet, but Echo has become part of the furniture in the home of Anita and Craig Saunders.
As owners of The Aviator Experience in Thames, the Saunders’ are familiar with goings-on in the sky, but Echo – who had her wing feathers clipped before they got her – was something new for the pair.
“We got Echo from a bird rescue when she was about three-months-old,” Anita told The Profile. “We went to the rescue to drop off a lonely duckling who swam up to us at the river. The lady mentioned she had a young magpie needing a home, and we’d always loved them, so we said yes.”
Echo moved onto the family property in the gorge, alongside cats, dogs, and other animals.
Anita said she was a very interactive bird who loved to play – especially if soft toys were involved.
“She’ll enjoy being chased, climb all over our very tolerant cat and pull his ears and whiskers, and play with the dog, steal her toys, and join in with fetch games,” she said.
“She’s also content just to sit on our arm and chill out. In the early evening she always hangs out in the lounge with us, then puts herself to bed on top of a cabinet when it starts getting dark outside. At our bedtime we put her on her roost outside near the house, unless the weather is bad, then she gets to stay inside.”
And despite being grounded, Echo has gone missing three times.
Anita suspects she either follows people or gets frightened by them, then ends up in an unfamiliar area – making it difficult for her to make her way back home.
To help, Echo’s family has now put big, colourful, spinning windmills on the back gate and she hasn’t got lost since.
But despite Echo being loved by the whole family, Anita said people should not seek out magpies – who can live up to 25 years – as pets.
“They really are much better off with their own kind, and they have very strong family bonds,” she said. “They should only ever be rescued if there is no other option, and they would not be good around children with their sharp beak and claws.”
Magpies also remember faces, she said, which can lead to an icy reception if anybody is ever unkind to one.
“So if you’re mean to them, they’ll recognise you and they’ll hold a grudge,” she said. “Echo has stayed mad with me for a while after I’ve had to handle her more than she likes!”
BY KELLEY TANTAU
