magpies

pad180

has anybody any tips to scare of magpies from my back garden .im been infested by at least 30 birds . not only is it there presence but we have a flat roof were i sleep and they insist on pecking at the roof as soon as the sun comes up every morning very anoying .:mad: i dont want to use poision as i have the smaller birds there that i dont mind . any tips or pointers would be great .

Kess73

30 magpies at the one time?

I take it that them being there in such numbers is a fairly recent thing there.

Normally when magpies gather in such numbers it is in the winter when they often flock and roost together for food and heat, or at the start of the breeding season when they come together in large groups that get called marriage meetings, in which the birds without partners get to pair off.


The only other time that such a large number of magpie will come together other than for the reasons I mentioned above is a thing called parliments, which happen when large numbers of magpie come together to organise social standings or to resolve territorial disputes. This normally happens in the spring, but there can be some in the summer after breeding as territories get re established etc.


If this is what is happening, then your house garden is pretty much a nuetral venue or at the edges of all the territories, and as such once the meetings end the birds should go back to their own areas. It can last anything from a day to a week or so though.

Funkyzeit

Kess73 wrote: »

a thing called parliments, which happen when large numbers of magpie come together to organise

Betcha they are more efficient than the Dail too...