History Main / ThievingMagpie

For added effect, listen to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ceh0-42FXg0 this]] as you read.

* ''Webcomic/{{Housepets}}'': Trinket is a dimwitted bird who fits this to a tee. From his minimal screentime, he seems to work for anyone who can benefit him, usually committing theft or cons and serving as the SycophanticServant to both Cory and Stewart in different arcs. Inverting this, he quickly realizes he's in over his head with the latter and ditches him soon after their defeat.

* ''WebOriginal/CodexInversus'': Hoarding magpies are birds with the ability to sense emotions such as material attachment, pride in owning this, excitement for a new acquisition, and fear of losing things, which they use to track down creatures that have recently obtained something, be it a squirrel's stash of nuts or a person with a new jewel, and nab it. During the mating season, males attempt to steal things that people find important so that the resulting feelings of grief will attract a female by telling her that a successful thief lives in the area.

* Spiteful Crows in ''VideoGame/{{Earthbound}}'' can sometimes steal objects from Ness.

* In ComicBook/ComicBook/LilIPut when Miksja turns bunch of Małoludii into various birds, Kieszonka the thief gets (ironically) transform into a Magpie - she dont mind as it only helps her stealing stuff.

* In ''Webcomic/TheArcherAndTheSquirrel'' a crow steals from Count Wylie and he sets out to kill the thief thinking it a human. When he discovers the crow in it's gold filled nest he orders the bird shot but it escapes.

* Blackwing, Vaarsuvius's raven familiar in ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', has a penchant for "baubles". It's mostly PlayedForLaughs, though at one point he does snag a useful ioun stone when he attacks an enemy psion.
* Trinket of ''Webcomic/{{Housepets}}'' is a dimwitted bird who fits this to a tee. From his minimal screentime, he seems to work for anyone who can benefit him, usually committing theft or cons and serving as the SycophanticServant to both Cory and Stewart in different arcs. Inverting this, he quickly realizes he's in over his head with the latter and ditches him soon after their defeat.

[[folder:WesternAnimation]]

* Occurred in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/CliffordTheBigRedDog'', where a crow snatched shiny things and kept them in his nest, leaving Clifford to get blamed for stealing.
* Ruffles and his gang from ''WesternAnimation/CountDuckula''.

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'', a pigeon takes Eddy's quarter after he got it out of a sewer drainage. Later, while the trio are building a treehouse, Ed gets a nest with the same bird on top of him, which Eddy tries to catch again but fails.

* Trinket of ''Webcomic/{{Housepets}}'' is a dimwitted bird who fits this to a tee. From his minimal screentime, he seems to work for anyone who can benefit him, usually committing theft or cons and serving as the SycophanticServent to both Cory and Stewart in different arcs. Inverting this, he quickly realizes he's in over his head with the latter and ditches him soon after their defeat.

* Trinket of ''Webcomic/{{Housepets}}'' is a dimwitted bird who fits this to a tee. From his minimal screentime, he seems to work for anyone who can benefit him, usually committing theft or cons and serving as the SycophantServent to both Cory and Stewart in different arcs. Inverting this, he quickly realizes he's in over his head with the latter and ditches him soon after their defeat.

[[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/{{Tintin}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thieving_magpie.jpg]]]]

* In ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'', crow Pokemon Murkrow has appeared sometimes looking for and snatching shiny objects, such as Ash's badges.

** In earlier episode "[[Recap/TintinTheBlackIsland The Black Island]]", there's also a thieving magpie involved (but with a plot twist) when the firemen are desperately looking for their garage key.

* In a {{filler}} ''Manga/CaseClosed'' case, a murder of crows find the case's murder weapon and take it to their nest. Conan, Ai and the Detective Kids have to retrieve it. [[spoiler: At the end of the episode, [[Funny/CaseClosed the crows chase the kids around]], still angry because they messed around with the nest.]]

* A minor ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' villain is named Magpie for her kleptomania and the [[StevenUlyssesPerhero unfortunate birth name]] Margaret Pye.

* In a sidestory of ''Fanfic/PokemonResetBloodlines'' focused on Astrid, she's so distracted daydreaming about her eight Gym Badges and her plans after the Kalos league, a Murkrow comes and snatches her badge case. Fortunately, she manages to get it back.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TitanicTheLegendGoesOn'', [[JerkwithAHeartOfGold Hector]], with the most important thing he appropriates being Angelica's locket.

* In the ''Literature/ArabianNights'' tale "The Stolen Necklace", said necklace is actually stolen by a magpie, but a holy woman is unjustly accused.

* Trader Mags of ''Literature/GuardiansOfGaHoole'' and her assistant Bubbles have been known to collect artifacts and other stuff humans ([[HoldYourHippogriffs or Others, as the owls call them]]) had left behind after they disappeared. Otulissa dislikes her because she is collecting trash... until she checks the stuff out in "The Shattering" and praises the magpie.
* ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince'': Dumbledore uses this analogy when referring to young Tom Riddle (the boy who would become [[BigBad Voldemort]]) after a PensieveFlashback. This helps him and Harry understand Voldemort's behavior since then, including his use of {{Soul Jar}}s.
* Alluded to in ''Literature/HisDarkMaterials'' -- one of the parallel universes is colloquially referred to [[PlanetEngland by the name]] of the only city the main characters ever visit, Cittegazze -- "city of magpies". It's a kind of parasite [[PocketDimension pocket-universe]] heavily infested with Spectres, ghostly things that attack adults and steal their souls but leave children alone, which is why the city is by now a (pre-)TeenageWasteland.
* Invoked in ''Literature/TheMagicOfOz'' where Kiki Aru, having learned a transformative [[MagicalIncantation magic word]], turns himself into a magpie in order to steal a piece of gold from an old man.
* A PlotCoupon in one of the ''Literature/{{Redwall}}'' books turns out to be in a magpie's nest.

* The BigBad of ''VideoGame/CaptainToadTreasureTracker'' is a giant magical crow named Wingo. He's the antagonist because he wants shiny power stars. His towers even have tons of treasure in them.

* In ''WesternAnimation/RobinRobin'', [[ADogNamedDog Magpie]] has a nest filled with shiny junk. He sings a whole song about the wonders of ''stuff'' which makes it clear he's trying to distract himself from being alone.

* In ''TabletopGame/ResArcana'', a raven's love for shiny object gets a nod with the Raven Familiar card, whose power is triggered by you gaining gold. However, for gameplay reasons, it gives you a wild essence instead of stealing anything.

An {{Animal Stereotype|s}}: Magpies (and by extension other corvids such as ravens and crows) [[StickyFingers have a compulsion to steal]], particularly in regard to shiny things. A common plot is for something to go missing, accusations of theft to be thrown around at everyone in sight, and the magpie to be revealed as the culprit at the last minute.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* While it is certainly true that magpies, and corvids in general, have a well-deserved reputation as thieves, there is no evidence that they consistently prefer shiny objects over anything else. Nor do they line their nests with such objects to attract mates. They may regard jewelry and other shiny things with curiosity and fly off with them simply to examine them, but they do not collect them as a typical behavior.
* In UsefulNotes/AustralianRulesFootball, Collingwood's nickname of "the Magpies" comes from both the club's colors of black and white, and the reputation of the Collingwood area at the time of the team's founding (and indeed, for decades thereafter): it was widely seen as the home of thieves and other criminals. It must be noted that Australian magpies are not corvids but members of a family called the cracidae, unrelated to European magpies (and they are not known for taking shiny objects so much as for divebombing passers-by who get too close to their nests).
* Some bowerbirds are known to snatch up colorful or pretty objects to decorate their bowers. The famous satin bowerbird, for example, likes blue, shiny things.
[[/folder]]

** In ''Literature/CarpeJugulum'', the [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampyres']] magpie mascots pinch Granny Weatherwax's gold-edged invitation to the naming of Verence and Magrat's baby. Cue Granny thinking [[FairyTale/SleepingBeauty she's been snubbed]] as she hasn't received her invitation, while everybody else in the kingdom has.