Bird life and dealing with the Magpies

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Charles Morgan

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My bird feeder has worked wonders this year in feeding all sorts of birds - the latest being a female Blackcap and a Garden Warbler, and looking out from my bedroom yesterday I saw a pair of Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers do over one of my Lilac trees (the cavity in the base of the tree is now rather worrying, if it falls it will take out the garage).

I live next to a large field which has lots of cover, and I regularly see a splendid dog fox chasing after the ubiquitous rabbits - the more of the latter Charlie catches the merrier. Last week I was looking at it chatting to my brother in law and there was Charlie, but he was being pursued by all the magpies that live around the field, and they were giving him what for. Interesting to watch, but I have become very aware of the sheer number of magpies around - just now I had six (gold on it's way I doubt) on the lawn, a much larger number than last year, and I am worried that the magpies will raid the nests for all the garden birds, as there are just too many of them.

Anybody have non-lethal suggestions for encouraging the Magpies to go elsewhere? I want to displace them and encourage the garden songbirds to prosper (I'm up to 20 species I've seen in the garden or over it - from Wrens at one end to Red Kites at the other).
 
larsen traps are unpleasant.

I suppose you could take the caught magpies for a long drive,

do they do homing?

If they come back you could paint them grey and sell them up north (ask spx?)



Our garden has a wide variety of birds including magpies.
 
The methodological problem with the Larsen trap is in order to trap a magpie you have first to trap a magpie.

No safe shot from my house, but even if I could, I won't despite them being a pest species, I only ever shoot to eat. However, if they carp on my Alpina again, this attitude might change.
 
I have little respect for magpie's myself, they are evil creatures I watched them raid and destroy the family nest of our tame blackbird clan no amount of chasing by us could make them dissapear.

Shoot them! get a catapault even ;)
 
"It doesn't attract Magpies or deter them. It doesn't look like a real magpie. It looks like a cheap plastic product with a couple of stripes of white paint on it. I'm sorry to leave a negative review but then this is a very poor imitation of the real thing."
 
Lethal solutions best for these vermin, this works well

hw100thumbhole.jpg
 
A decent gally will terminate any unwanted Magpies if you get close enough. Feed it to the dog
 
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Having seen them kill adult blackbirds and starlings, I say kill one and string it up- they're intelligent so might take the hint.

They seem less common around here since more crows moved in, the crows seem to do their evil business more discreetly.
 
Lethal solutions best for these vermin, this works well

hw100thumbhole.jpg

I think this is correct.......

Legally, you cannot discharge an airgun/rifle within 200 metres of any public road or boundary of property onto which the gun is discharged.
So unless you have a garden over 400 metres square, you cannot use one - legally.
Apart from the fact that you would have to be an Olympic class crackshot to hit a magpie at 50 yards plus, the OP requested a non-harmful way of getting rid of the birds.

I would be inclined to try a couple of shiny tin cans or unwanted CD's on string to give the occasional rattle. They are very nervy birds and scare quicker than most.

Discussed on Pistonheads at length.........

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/...31&mid=0&i=0&nmt=Getting+rid+of+magpies&mid=0
 
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Wrong.

You must not discharge a firearm within x metres, SO AS TO IMPEDE A PERSON ON THE HIGHWAY.

So you can shoot next to a highway, just not scare someone on a mangy nag.
 
I think this is correct.......


Legally, you cannot discharge an airgun/rifle within 200 metres of any public road or boundary of property onto which the gun is discharged.
So unless you have a garden over 400 metres square, you cannot use one - legally.
Apart from the fact that you would have to be an Olympic class crackshot to hit a magpie at 50 yards plus, the OP requested a non-harmful way of getting rid of the birds.

Not correct:

It is legal for anyone above the age of 14 to shoot an airgun, unsupervised, on private land where full permission to shoot has been given. Those below the age of 14 may shoot airguns only if closely supervised by someone over 21 years of age. The supervising adult is legally responsible for the actions of the junior shooter.

Airguns may be used only on land where the user has full permission to shoot. This may be your garden, or private land owned or leased by an individual or club. Remember, wherever you shoot, you must ensure that all of your pellets remain within the boundary of the land to which your shooting permission applies.

It is illegal to shoot an airgun on any land, including common land, river banks, public land, recreation areas or playing fields and land covered by water, i.e. lakes, ponds, canals and rivers where you do not have full permission from the lands owner or its tenant. It is also illegal to fire an airgun closer than 50 feet (15 metres) from the centre of a public highway, bridleway or footpath, if your shooting causes upset or inconvenience to those using the highway.

It is legal for persons authorised by the landowner or tenant to carry out vermin control with an air rifle. The legal airgun quarry species include brown rats, magpies, carrion crows, rooks, jays, squirrels, woodpigeons, feral pigeons and collared doves. Other species, such as lesser black backed gulls, herring gulls and greater black backed gulls are best left to professional pest controllers.
 
Not correct:

It is legal for anyone above the age of 14 to shoot an airgun, unsupervised, on private land where full permission to shoot has been given. Those below the age of 14 may shoot airguns only if closely supervised by someone over 21 years of age. The supervising adult is legally responsible for the actions of the junior shooter.

Airguns may be used only on land where the user has full permission to shoot. This may be your garden, or private land owned or leased by an individual or club. Remember, wherever you shoot, you must ensure that all of your pellets remain within the boundary of the land to which your shooting permission applies.

It is illegal to shoot an airgun on any land, including common land, river banks, public land, recreation areas or playing fields and land covered by water, i.e. lakes, ponds, canals and rivers where you do not have full permission from the lands owner or its tenant. It is also illegal to fire an airgun closer than 50 feet (15 metres) from the centre of a public highway, bridleway or footpath, if your shooting causes upset or inconvenience to those using the highway.

It is legal for persons authorised by the landowner or tenant to carry out vermin control with an air rifle. The legal airgun quarry species include brown rats, magpies, carrion crows, rooks, jays, squirrels, woodpigeons, feral pigeons and collared doves. Other species, such as lesser black backed gulls, herring gulls and greater black backed gulls are best left to professional pest controllers.

l'm glad someone else knows the correct laws I wasnt going to get into that argument but with a lawyer in the house and a firearms officer next door I'm not about to do anything illegal :doh:

Thanks for taking the time to post the correct information
 
A 'non-lethal solution' just moves them around a bit, there are too many everywhere else already.

There are far more Magpies ( and Grey Squirrels ) around than when I was a youngster, and far less songbirds. Predation by vermin may not be the only cause but it isn't helping.
 
Just try and take photos of them that usually makes them scarper :D
 

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