There seem to be way more magpies than usual this year?

euser1984

Anybody know why this might be?

Thanks very much !

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

I do regular bird counts, and have done for almost 50 years, and I have seen no increase this year at all.

Keplar240B

Seen a baby magpie first time ever, two buddies actually. gas fellas, checking everything out

Aceandstuff

I've seen a few around Limerick recently, where I have never seen them before. I have no idea why either.

bilbot79

It's cos there's more money they are attracted to the shiny coins 😊

OpenYourEyes

As Srameen said, there's no increase. Perhaps you have a new pair nesting a bit closer to your house or route and they're in your head a bit more because of that, but they're essentially using any available space they can in this country, so numbers are unlikely to fluctuate by any noticeable amount at all.

sbsquarepants

Ellie Magnificent Rumor wrote: »

I do regular bird counts, and have done for almost 50 years, and I have seen no increase this year at all.

Slight derail......How do you count something like magpies? Must be hard enough to count something like puffins where you can go to a cliff and tick them off one by one, but magpies are scattered all over the place - how could you be sure you weren't counting the same ones over and over?

(I've often wondered about this and it seems like you Ellie Magnificent Rumor are the perfect man to answer, so i'll jump at my chance for an explanation !)

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

sbsquarepants wrote: »

Slight derail......How do you count something like magpies? Must be hard enough to count something like puffins where you can go to a cliff and tick them off one by one, but magpies are scattered all over the place - how could you be sure you weren't counting the same ones over and over?

(I've often wondered about this and it seems like you Srameen are the perfect man to answer, so i'll jump at my chance for an explanation !)

Simple enough. You have Km squares that you work through counting all birds seen in them on particular dates. Counting waders flitting about in their hundreds is much harder.

Del.Monte

Such intelligent creatures too. I was in Connolly station yesterday afternoon and was able to watch one such at work. On a distant platform the spilt contents of a packet of ball shaped snacks attracted the attention of a Herring Gull, a Rook and a rather bedraggled Magpie and while the the first two wolfed down all they could for immediate gratification the magpie would pick up two or three at a time and hide them for later. It did this by hiding them in the ballast and then covering them with small stones. A lot of work but it did recover a large amount of the snacks - and to a different hiding place each time! If nothing else it will provide the Magpie with lots of entertainment as it searches amongst the vast desert of ballast for its various stashes.

Storm 10

WE have a Magpie who comes in to the garden every day, presume its the same one, he has a go at the bird feeder nuts but never goes near any of the smaller birds if they are there first.

Eddie B

I think this same question comes up every year lol

euser1984

thanks for all the replies to your posts...for certainty the magpies have all the small birds scared away around here and my parents house anyway.

Eddie B

euser1984 wrote: »

thanks for all the replies to your posts...for certainty the magpies have all the small birds scared away around here and my parents house anyway.

Maybe try the Hunting forum for advise, if you think numbers are somewhat unbalanced causing a negative affect.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

euser1984 wrote: »

thanks for all the replies to your posts...for certainty the magpies have all the small birds scared away around here and my parents house anyway.

I suggest it's more than that. They coexist quite happily here. Have they move to more lucrative feeding/water, or more cover for fledglings?

euser1984

from what i read before they tried to get rid of loads of magpies in africa or something - didn't make a difference to the smaller bird population at all.

the ducks are being fed here in our estate - is that a bad idea?

and still ricky villa

Another derail
I run a lot in Corkagh Park and a lot of the time it's a loop in the same field.
Haven't seen this magpie for a few days but at one spot, beside bushes, there's a magpie sat on the ground a couple of meters from the bush.
Every time I approach he/she bounces off away from me.
Every lap the same, same spot, sat on the ground, sods off when I approach.
This went on for days. The bird wasn't injured as he/she moved when I was near but only at the last minute.
Bearing in mind I know nothing about birds, is this a nesting thing?

euser1984

and still ricky villa wrote: »

Another derail
I run a lot in Corkagh Park and a lot of the time it's a loop in the same field.
Haven't seen this magpie for a few days but at one spot, beside bushes, there's a magpie sat on the ground a couple of meters from the bush.
Every time I approach he/she bounces off away from me.
Every lap the same, same spot, sat on the ground, sods off when I approach.
This went on for days. The bird wasn't injured as he/she moved when I was near but only at the last minute.
Bearing in mind I know nothing about birds, is this a nesting thing?

i hope your not superstitious....

Half-cocked

euser1984 wrote: »

i hope your not superstitious....

Yep, sounds like you're doomed. 😉

and still ricky villa

Sh!t
Hard to argue with that logic
Time for a crime spree to go out with a bang

euser1984

Half-cocked wrote: »

Yep, sounds like you're doomed. ��

nah, i seem to be fine. maybe i should write my own poem