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Magpie! (1 Viewer)

Talon 1

Well-known member
I know they are only doing their natural function but last spring i lost many a birds egg to them. It was not just a few but many.

So tell me......How do i stop them without killing them?
 
Could you provide a few more details about the nests the eggs were taken from such as location and the cover type?

If it's for birdboxes try placing a cage around the box and encouraging a climber to grow over it concealing the nest. In hedges it is more difficult, some types of hedge provide far better protection than others - hawthorn is a good nesting hedge (provided it isn't cut back too much) but conifers provide less of a safe nesting place.
 
Silvershark said:
Could you provide a few more details about the nests the eggs were taken from such as location and the cover type?

If it's for birdboxes try placing a cage around the box and encouraging a climber to grow over it concealing the nest. In hedges it is more difficult, some types of hedge provide far better protection than others - hawthorn is a good nesting hedge (provided it isn't cut back too much) but conifers provide less of a safe nesting place.


I live in a very old farmhouse and have many nesting in my roof. These are the ones that are attacked first then they move on to two boxes deep into a very large conifer. The hedge is usually left alone but not always.
That is all the coverage i have in my garden the rest is set to lawn.

I think this house is 300yrs old so i guess they have got used to where they go.
If it happens again i might put Larsen traps down and then transport them away and release them. But the traps do not come cheap!
 
Alli & Dave Free said:
I think this house is 300yrs old so i guess they have got used to where they go.
If it happens again i might put Larsen traps down and then transport them away and release them. But the traps do not come cheap!

I doubt that the Larsen traps will solve the problem. The magpies which you catch and transport away will be replaces bye new magpies soon. Silvershark's tips will solve the problem better.
 
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Alli & Dave Free said:
I live in a very old farmhouse and have many nesting in my roof. These are the ones that are attacked first then they move on to two boxes deep into a very large conifer. The hedge is usually left alone but not always.
That is all the coverage i have in my garden the rest is set to lawn.

I think this house is 300yrs old so i guess they have got used to where they go.
If it happens again i might put Larsen traps down and then transport them away and release them. But the traps do not come cheap!

tamandua is right, traps won't help as more mapies will just move in or the ones you move might just fly back. A cheaper alternative would be to place a wire mesh large enough for the nesting birds to get through but small enough to stop the magpies getting in around the entrances to the nesting sites in the roof. This is a cheep but not a particularly appealing to the eye situation, so for more long-term protection you could encourage a climber such as ivy or climbing rose to go up the walls concealing the entrances to where the birds nest (and providing an additional place to nest in) - but this will take time to grow. As I said previously, conifers don't provide good cover but if you wanted to keep the nest boxes there place a hanging basket or another wire structure around the boxes to stop the magpies getting in.
 
Controversial suggestion, perhaps, but why should you stop them? If you have a Sparrowhawk coming into the garden, catching birds, will you want to get rid of that as well? What are your motives here?

Nature isn't always all that nice to watch if we apply our own values to it... but when man gets involved to try to put things "right", there's rarely a happy ending.
 
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