How to get rid of Magpies

[stalecrayon]

We have 2 that have appeared in the last 6 weeks or so. They are bullying the smaller birds that we have nuts in feeders for. I changed feeders to ones that big birds supposedly can’t access but these 2 magpies have worked how to.

is there anything else I can do to get rid of them? We don’t want to stop feeding birds altogether but may have to i suppose?

I feed them elsewhere. That reduces the likelihood of them pestering smaller birds.

They like cheese, egg, meat scraps...

I put the feeder slightly in a Holly bush/tree - that did the trick. The little birds flitted in and out, and the magpies stayed in the grass eating the scraps that fell down.

We have a returning family to a tree across the road. There are a few cats, mine included that live near. The racket when the cats are around is deafening and the cats seem to enjoy winding them up just by sitting under the tree.

I hope my cat doesn't catch one because they'll harass him for evermore, I've seen my cat up another tree and the magpies taking it in turn to peck his bum. He'll never learn.

Why would you want to? They're beautiful birds and full of character. Just feed them separately as someone else suggested. They have as much right to be here as the other birds and certainly a lot more than we have.

If magpies can get food from a cage feeder I'd like to see how and would have to salute their intelligence I think - I don't believe they could get into my fatball one (bought after jackdaws were scoffing four a day).

We have 3 bird feeding stations. All birds welcome including gulls (near the sea obviously) the small birds can get into the small ones, but not the bigger birds. DGD made them on a craft day, just scraps of wood. DH made a big one,high up on a pole,we away from the cats.its outside our summerhouse,one day we were watching the pigeons, walking round and round, bobbing their heads up and down, trying to figure out how to reach the food. Did learn one lesson the hard way. We used to put proper wild bird food seeds in there,course it's sprouting all through the paving and planters! Bread,cheese, and mealworms only in that one now!

My dad feeds them on a bird table he puts scraps for them then the little birds go to the feeder.

I quite like magpies they are cheeky buggers and we have 2 that walk up and down the street like they own it !

They are intelligent and good looking, but I am not a fan, as they eat all the baby birds every, bloody year, we try to chase them off, but they are very persistent and hunt in packs. We have several, and lots of crows and jackdaws too. My neighbour puts food on the ground, but then you get rats. I think it is a loosing battle sadly.

Oh I did not know this, that's maybe why they march up and down looking for nests with baby birds or fledglings!

We have trees just outside our small garden and lots of birds nest in them, usually including magpies.

They are nasty buggers, we've seen them eating chicks, pinning starlings to the ground in our garden and viciously pecking them, the screeching when chicks are being stolen or birds being attacked is awful.

Nature is both beautiful and cruel.

We have Magpies this year and they have figured out the fat ball feeder, it's difficult for them to approach and we have a dome underneath it to keep the squirrels off. It took them a few goes to figure it out, one foot on the dome one foot holding onto the pole and leaning out to reach the fat balls that are hanging off one of the 'arms', very smart, there are seed feeders on other 'arms' of the pole which make it really difficult for them to get into position. I think it's difficult enough that they just come by once or twice a day and the small birds have it to themselves the rest of the time.

Feed them separately, they're incredibly intelligent and judgey. Be nice, they'll give you stuff, be an arse they'll bully you and tell their mates to.

I hate how they raid the nests and steal the baby birds. I've seen them mob a black bird and kill it on our lawn. Didn't eat it, just killed it. They also completely destroyed a blue tit next in our garden taking the baby birds alive. The parents kept coming for days. So yep, I hate them and I am a huge nature lover.

They seem to totally dominate the small birds and I wonder if the fact that they're no longer controlled is a reason for the loss of song birds.

I have a new garden and am spending all my time putting in holly, pyracantha, berberis and other shrubs that I am hoping will provide habitat for small birds and keep the magpies, crows etc out.

Regarding feeding I'm planting seed and berry producing plants in the hope that in a year or two I won't have to put food out and the plants will provide enough natural food for the small birds without the daily feast for big birds.

I hate magpies. At the weekend I was out walking my dog and there was 3 pecking another magpie to absolute shreds because it was injured. I tried to shoo them away but the poor thing was never going to make it.

As mentioned above, I've also seen them eating baby birds and they used to torment the life out of my elderly cat. Horrible things.

I do hate them too, there's loads where we live and they do seem to drive out/kill the smaller birds.

If you hang fat balls on your wall they can't get them as they can't land on a vertical wall. They do try to pull them off though so you need to tie them on tightly.

I love magpies! I feed our family of magpies on the lawn and they leave the feeders alone. The wait for me sitting on the walls.

Yes they do eat baby birds, but that is why the smaller birds have about 8 babies, as some will become food for other birds, like the corvids. Thats just nature.

I put the magpie's and crow's food onto a tray on the ground and hang the smaller birds food in the tree.

I hate them. They cleared out all the nests in the hedgerow that borders our garden over a couple of days.
My vair posh friend who has a very very posh friend with an estate, tels me that they hang a decoy of a dead magpie from a tree and that keeps them away. I haven’t been able to find such a dead bird decoy, only live-looking ones which I think is used in hunting them. But next time I drive past one that has become roadkill I am stopping!

Love them. My mum feeds myriad birds in her garden. Just put lots of feeders in different parts of the garden and they all work it out, along with the squirrels and foxes.

I love my magpies. They are very funny. They don't usually go near the bird feeders because I give them separate scraps. We don't fill the feeders during the summer anyway.

I'm fed up saluting when I see just one. I seem to have my hand permanently in salute mode now. I love it when there are two or more, I can take a rest.

All wildlife welcome in my garden. They all come in for a nose and a visit especially after the grass is cut. Great fun to watch.

I only put a bit of cheese and oats (and a shallow dish of water) out if the ground is frozen in Winter. Never see the maggies then, but the smaller birds are taken care of. Otherwise the maggies can do what they always do and find their own food.

Thanks everyone. I’ll catch up after the kids are in bed.

I once went to a farm where they had a magpie in a cage, they changed birds regularly so the birds were ok. I asked why and they told me it was a deterrent and it stopped magpies attaching and killing other birds ect