Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie

Aggressive magpie!.

Options
  • 27-05-2010 5:42pm
    #1
    arybvtcw0eolkf
    Closed Accounts Posts: 24,878 ✭✭✭✭


    Hi guys, hope this doesn't sound stupid!.

    But in the last two weeks there's a magpie attacking anything (except human's) in a radius of about 75mtrs of my house, including my dogs (a staffordshire bull terrier & a Pitbull) plus my cat and a neighbours.

    During the sunny weekend just gone it killed maybe a dozen birds or more on the roofs and gardens of the house's.

    I've never seen anything like it, I can take some video clip (might be a good idea) of its behaviour.

    As I've never witnessed anything like it I'm guessing its not common?. Or if it is, is there something humane I can do about it?.

    This bird will actually come ground and walk up to the dogs & cats on the ground attacking them!.
    Tagged:


Comments

  • Options
    #2
    Kalahari
    Closed Accounts Posts: 45 ✭Kalahari


    Do you know if it has a nest nearby? A magpie was being a bit aggressive in our garden recently and we saw 3 chicks fledge a couple of days ago so that must have been why. But she wasn't as aggressive as yours sounds. We did find 1 dead starling but have no idea if a magpie killed it or not.

    Is there any way you can deter other birds so they won't be killed until you figure out what's going on?


  • Options
    #3
    Dusty87
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,920 ✭✭✭Dusty87


    Johnathan Scary Machine wrote: »
    Hi guys, hope this doesn't sound stupid!.

    But in the last two weeks there's a magpie attacking anything (except human's) in a radius of about 75mtrs of my house, including my dogs (a staffordshire bull terrier & a Pitbull) plus my cat and a neighbours.

    During the sunny weekend just gone it killed maybe a dozen birds or more on the roofs and gardens of the house's.

    I've never seen anything like it, I can take some video clip (might be a good idea) of its behaviour.

    As I've never witnessed anything like it I'm guessing its not common?. Or if it is, is there something humane I can do about it?.

    This bird will actually come ground and walk up to the dogs & cats on the ground attacking them!.


    Common enough. There was two around our neighbours that gave his old collie a hard time. They take ckicks and eggs. It probably has young.
    Two words. Larson Trap


  • Options
    #4
    arybvtcw0eolkf
    Closed Accounts Posts: 24,878 ✭✭✭✭arybvtcw0eolkf


    Thanks for the answer's, and actually I've wondered if there was a nest nearby however I can't seem to locate it.

    Where would maggies usually nest?... I'm living in a housing estate & not countryside.

    If it has young babies I wouldn't like to trap it or harm it in anyway, if its just a narky fecker well all bets are off.


  • Options
    #5
    IvySlayer
    Registered Users Posts: 17,187 ✭✭✭✭IvySlayer


    Magpies would prefer tall trees to nest. But if the tree has few leaves, they tend to use a bush. It should calm down in a few weeks! Usually it's only the male that is attacking while the female is busy with the chicks.

    There not a lot you can do except maybe bring a stick out so it think before attacking you. He's defending his territory. We had one before...it got too cocky though. My cat had it. Luckily we caught her before she went for the nest. Hard work to keep a cat indoors!


  • Options
    #6
    Kess73
    Registered Users Posts: 25,560 ✭✭✭✭Kess73


    Nowt unusual in what the magpie is doing. They can be pretty aggressive when they want to be.

    I would be almost 100% that there are either fledglings somewhere nearby or that there is a full nest close by. Also there are lots of young starlings about at the moment, and I have found that the magpies will go to town on them during the breeding season, at least they have always done so near me.


    Nothing unusual either in seeing a magpie hunting other birds, most corvids do this when the opportunity presents itself.

    It should calm down a bit in a few weeks. Once the eggs hatch it takes between three and four weeks for the young magpies to leave the nest. Generally breeding starts in early April so three weeks or so of incubation and a further three to four weeks as chicks in the nest would put it at about the right time for them to be just fledged or abvout to, so the adults are going to be uber protective for another couple of weeks.

    Housing estates have proven to be good breeding grounds for magpies in recent years, along with a large number of other birds.


  • Advertisement
  • Options
    #7
    Connacht
    Registered Users Posts: 447 ✭✭Connacht


    Can I just say that if you take out your binoculars and have a good look at magpies, you will see that they are beautiful birds, with wonderfully coloured backs, etc. Like all wild animals, they should be left alone.
    (I say this because various threads here often pop up with the "I hate magpies / I shoot magpies" theme).


  • Options
    #8
    Kess73
    Registered Users Posts: 25,560 ✭✭✭✭Kess73


    Connacht wrote: »
    Can I just say that if you take out your binoculars and have a good look at magpies, you will see that they are beautiful birds, with wonderfully coloured backs, etc. Like all wild animals, they should be left alone.
    (I say this because various threads here often pop up with the "I hate magpies / I shoot magpies" theme).


    No arguements from me on them being a beautiful bird, but what makes them such an interesting bird is their intelligence, and the fact that they can have different quirks from bird to bird, much like people.

    Plus they are one of the few animals that, like people, can recognise it's own reflection as being itself.


Advertisement