Magpies (warning contains bird watching not Geordies)

[Giraffe]

Does there seem to be more magpies around than ever before?

I see them wherever I go.

 

[atfc village]

16 on my local Rec today.

 

[Uncle C]

Horrible birds.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Horrible birds.

Indeed. I was watching one have a real scrap with a collared dove the other day.

 

[osgood]

deffo, was saying just this the other day. they kill all before them, they watch other birds then raid nest,
time for a cull

 

[spongy]

It's got to the point that I'm having to close the window at night now. The racket they make at first light and sunrise is horrendous.

 

[seagurn]

Time indeed for a cull . trouble is the greenies dont see the damage they crows rooks do to the songbird populatipn even grey squirrels will take eggs amd young songbirds . Hence the reason song birds are in decline this is one of the larger factors along with habbitat. If a gamekeeper came back from 100 years ago he'd do his nut!

 

[tomfitz12]

yep, first time ever I have a nest in one of my gardens trees, driving the wood pigeons and other birds out of our other trees

 

[Meade's Ball]

My imaginary cap certainly feels over-doffed thanks to the plentitude of those wily hellbringers. Time to hire a team of magpie-flesh-loving falcons to patrol the skies and strike those white-tailed fiends to task. After that, when there's too many falcons, their natural enemy, the aardvark, will be brought out of retirement to longthintonguelick them to death.

 

[somerset]

deffo, was saying just this the other day. they kill all before them, they watch other birds then raid nest,
time for a cull

I have two tall fir trees at the bottom of my garden and until 3 or 4 years ago was always full of doves and blackbirds nesting......a group of magpies and jackdaws started nesting in a tree and on a roof within 100 m of my place.....we watched them systematically slaughter all the chicks and steal the eggs, now we have nothing at all nesting there.......I am getting an air rifle.

 

[dougdeep]

It's got to the point that I'm having to close the window at night now. The racket they make at first light and sunrise is horrendous.

You could get up earlier.

 

[Shy Talk]

Hang on, this started off with the OP saying he's seen more than usual and now there are people wanting a cull! Not a very scientific basis to start killing magpies en mass. This was raised about 10 or 15 years ago, and it was established that the number of magpies did not significantly effect 'songbird' numbers. A major killer is cats and in addition to killing many birds they do drive nesting birds higher up hedges so they are easier to predate from above. A cat cull would therefore be more beneficial. I'm sure that would do the trick!

 

[glasfryn]

Hang on, this started off with the OP saying he's seen more than usual and now there are people wanting a cull! Not a very scientific basis to start killing magpies en mass. This was raised about 10 or 15 years ago, and it was established that the number of magpies did not significantly effect 'songbird' numbers. A major killer is cats and in addition to killing many birds they do drive nesting birds higher up hedges so they are easier to predate from above. A cat cull would therefore be more beneficial. I'm sure that would do the trick!

having dealt with cats all of my life, I find your last sentence rather stupid the amount of birds taken by cats is minimal in comparison with the amount killed by chemicals used on farms, hedges ploughed in by farmers, and knobs with air guns pot shotting anything that moves
on a more singular note my neighbour in Wales shot every type of bird he could (in fact had a garden bird book and ticked them off as he killed them) and those he winged he stamped on to be sure they were dead. It took me 5 years to report this after having arguments and even fist fights with him about this and even then the good old RSPB and RSPCA did **** all other than warn him and his mental son who he bought an air rifle for Christmas who spent most of the following Summer killing birds of every sort including a family of Buzzards who thankfully were to far away for him to hit.

 

[glasfryn]

update on this
my neighbour has just told me the resident Magpies have killed the blackbird chicks nesting in the nearby hedge(buggers)

 

[vegster]

It is another sign of the changing bird population. Years ago I would rarely see a Magpie or Crow now there seems a plethora of them. Along the seafront now the Crows are even competing with the Seagulls for food along the tideline. It's not unusual to see the greeensward at Goring with dozens patrolling the grass. I have seen Magpies in my road hanging almost under the eaves of the houses looking for other birds nests to rob. It has got to the stage that roughly all the bird life that is left are Seagulls and a few Pigeons.

 

[Shy Talk]

having dealt with cats all of my life, I find your last sentence rather stupid the amount of birds taken by cats is minimal in comparison with the amount killed by chemicals used on farms, hedges ploughed in by farmers, and knobs with air guns pot shotting anything that moves
on a more singular note my neighbour in Wales shot every type of bird he could (in fact had a garden bird book and ticked them off as he killed them) and those he winged he stamped on to be sure they were dead. It took me 5 years to report this after having arguments and even fist fights with him about this and even then the good old RSPB and RSPCA did **** all other than warn him and his mental son who he bought an air rifle for Christmas who spent most of the following Summer killing birds of every sort including a family of Buzzards who thankfully were to far away for him to hit.

So is a cull of magpies less stupid and more beneficial to nesting birds than a cull of cats? I threw the cat comments in to show how silly the thread was becoming. I would hope that there will be no cull of either.

 

[LowerWesty]

I have two tall fir trees at the bottom of my garden and until 3 or 4 years ago was always full of doves and blackbirds nesting......a group of magpies and jackdaws started nesting in a tree and on a roof within 100 m of my place.....we watched them systematically slaughter all the chicks and steal the eggs, now we have nothing at all nesting there.......I am getting an air rifle.

100 m with an air rifle?

But seriously the Magpies are becoming a real threat to song birds in urban locations, they don't appear to have any natural predators. A farmer friend of mine once said to me " if you have Magpies in your garden, you won't have any song birds.

Mind you they are very clever and mate for life and they get very upset when their mate is no more.

We also have a family of Jackdaws, but they don't seem anywhere as aggressive as the Magpies.

 

[Bruntburger]

This is my favourite thread this year... Monty Python eat your heart out!

I personally support the cat cull as they dig up my flowers and use my vegetable patch as a public toilet

 

[AmexRuislip]

update on this
my neighbour has just told me the resident Magpies have killed the blackbird chicks nesting in the nearby hedge(buggers)

As I am an cat lover too, thought you might like this video

 

[The Antikythera Mechanism]

We have Jays and Magpies scrapping all the time, but strangely collared doves seem to sort them both out. I blame Tommy Boyd.