Magpies are getting clever

[Whingey]

Saw them stick their beaks in closed polystyrene chip boxes and bang them until chips fell out 😬

@FusionChefGeoff

They're not that bright. One got into our house a few months ago and just kept throwing itself at the window trying to get out.

I eventually trapped it in a laundry basket and threw a blanket over that and it stopped the kamikaze slam against the glass.

Then I carried the whole thing out of the front door to release it.

The whole way through, it's mate was sitting in the tree outside yelling to him 'get out, Geoff! I'm over here, what are you doing?! Oh god she's coming at you with the broom now watch it.. Geoff!! She's getting the laundry basket.. and a blanket..... Geoff??? .......Where did you go??" God he was noisy!!

😂😂😂

I saw them dive bombing at our black bin - tenacious.

Our cat had a go at one once. Fool. For the rest of his life he was persecuted by all the neighbourhood magpies dive bombing him every time he left the house.

i watched a tv programme and crows are the most intelligent, pulling the rubbish bags out of the bin
magpies eat road kill so get a meal that way

a seagull landed on my head, virtually, and tried to steal my vegetarian sausage roll.

Last summer we had one that visited us every day! He would come right up to us. I think he was quite young (I say he, I don't actually know 😂) Hoping he will be back this summer with a mate

We have a local family of magpies. They are so beautiful too.

They are lovely and I would consider making friends with the many around my garden, but they steal blackbird chicks from the nest. I spend my summer on high alert chasing them off when mr and Mrs blackbird raise the alarm. Of course they remember where the nest is, come back regularly to see what's available.

I watched a crow force a rabbit into the road, into oncoming traffic, where it was killed. The crow then came back and ate it. I thought that was clever. I also saw a crow catch a rabbit and kill it with its beak.

i saw some crows forcing a pheasant into the road, when i came back the pheasant was road kill

Our cat had a go at one once. Fool. For the rest of his life he was persecuted by all the neighbourhood magpies dive bombing him every time he left the house

They remembered him and attacked him over a long period of time as a group

I have a little flat roof outside my window. Every night I have to ‘appease the magpie’ by putting some monkey nuts on it. The magpie comes for these at 7am sharp every morning. If I forget or don’t leave as many out as normal (it’s 8, once I only left five because I was running out) he makes a racket and will tap the window with his beak.

So if I don’t want a rude awakening I am beholden to the magpie

Oh and they’re so clever, corvids. There’s a video on YouTube showing some jackdaws fishing. They are honestly taking little bits of bread that people have left behind feeding the ducks and using them to attract the little minnows to get a better meal.

I have half coconut shells stuffed with bird food hanging on strings from various branches. A crow on the branch couldnt reach the shell, no matter how much he reached and twisted. After a think, he got the string in his beak, pulled it up and stood on it, and could then reach the food! I was so impressed

@Toega

U.K. ones are nice. Antipodean magpies are fucking horrendous hell beasts that should not exist.

And the noise when they divebomb you!

They remembered him and attacked him over a long period of time as a group yup

There used to be a MNetter years ago who either rescued or kept corvids as pets (or both). She was amazing and told some wonderful stories about them.

@VenusClapTrap

Our cat had a go at one once. Fool. For the rest of his life he was persecuted by all the neighbourhood magpies dive bombing him every time he left the house.

apparently corvids gossip like humans so if one has done something mean to another they tell the others.

As I do the school run there’s always two separate crows on separate verges. These is clearly their homes. It always makes me smile.

Brilliant story about crows’ intelligence on Twitter here.

They hold funerals too. Well, not in the traditional sense, but they will gather and ‘mourn’ by cawing and passing on info that one of their own has died.

I think that they always have been.

I hope they aren't getting more intelligent because they're already bloody clever!

My gran used to breed rabbits so had a magnificent habitat (probably not up to today's standards but was amazing in the 80s compared with the little hutches people used). The magpies figured out how to open it and caused chaos as part of the masterplan...which we assumed was to do with getting access to the kittens.

My grandfather had to create a new locking system but the buggers persisted in trying to crack it. They were more trouble than the foxes!

The ones in Canberra are terrifying. I visited a mate there and went for a long ride around the park and one swooped and pecked at my ear and cut it. No wonder everyone puts cable ties poking out of their bike helmets!

@Springchickpea if they are digging up grubs you should be pleased, there are grubs that destroy the lawn.

@SmidgenofaPigeon please cut the nuts into little bits, if the bird is feeding chicks the whole nuts can choke them. (Or any other birds).