While stopping for a picnic lunch in Mammoth on my family's trip to Yellowstone National Park, I noticed lots of the Black-billed Magpies flying around the picnic area. These birds are fascinating as not only do they have stunning blue-green feathers, but they are so incredibly smart and funny to watch as they search for food and interact with other magpies. This photo not only shows the beauty of these birds, but it also shows how they have learned to easily find human food, which demonstrates not only how smart they are, but also how they have adapted to and gain reward from visitors to the park. While visitors should never feed wildlife as it harmful and dangerous to both the animals and the visitors, this photo is a glimpse of how the magpies have found ways to live in a very human-visited area.
