Magpies how to deal with them.

vandriver

Lots of birds disappear from gardens in the summer,because of many different food sources available.
They'll be back when food gets scarce if you fill your feeders.

Storm 10

vandriver wrote: »

Lots of birds disappear from gardens in the summer,because of many different food sources available.
They'll be back when food gets scarce if you fill your feeders.

Your correct there I thought all the Blue Tits and Finches that used to come into the Garden were gone, I had a few Magpies as well I live in Galway City but on Monday I looked out and there were Blue Tits back on the feeder despite the Magpies siting on the roof, I have seen two finches as well so hopefully they are back again. The Tits were going in and out of the bird house as well so fingers crossed.

Eyepatch

I'm noticing the small birds, such as robins, sparrows, blue tits etc. are feeding from the feeders at the same time as the larger birds such as pigeons, crows and even magpies. They don't seem to be afraid of them in the least. If those larger birds were predators of smaller birds, surely the smaller birds would be afraid and not come near when the large ones are feeding.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

There seems to be an assumption that Magpies are a predator of small garden birds, on a par with Sparrowhawks. They take some eggs and young birds at breeding time but it is not significant and do not generally prey on smaller birds the rest of the year. Invertebrates, worms, fruits, carrion, flies, leatherjackets etc are their preferred foods.

Storm 10

Actually its quite funny watching the Magpies and Crows hanging onto the feeder trying to get the nuts while its swinging wildly around.

Del.Monte

Just to be pedantic, while Magpies aren't black they are also crows.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Del.Monte wrote: »

Just to be pedantic, while Magpies aren't black they are also crows.

Likewise, Jay are corvoids/crows and far from black either.

Mountainsandh

Little songbirds are less visible in my garden too at the moment, but there is such an abundance of (red mostly) berries I think they're just gorging themselves out in the bushes, they don't need to hop around in hope I dish out something.
Actually, the magpies too are busy somewhere else right now.

They'll all be back after the berries run out I bet.

Oh, I just realized I think my sparrows are gone !

fritzelly

Strangely enough the magpies have moved on and have started getting Robins and thrushes in the garden

Coincidence, I think not...

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

fritzelly wrote: »

Strangely enough the magpies have moved on and have started getting Robins and thrushes in the garden

Coincidence, I think not...

Sorry, but it is almost certainly a coincidence of seasonal variations.