Magpies, magpies everywhere!

Arequipa

Good afternoon!
I hope you are all well!
I live in suburban Northside Dublin..
I enjoy watching the nature and wildlife around the area...
This Spring, i have noticed quite an increase in the number of magpies... They seem to be everywhere...
They are in groups of 2, 3, 4's plus... Flying around, fighting, chasing cats and fighting with grey crows...
I am doing work on my garden and when i can drying clothes on the line & it just seems the magpies are pooing everywhere...

I am not really complaining about them, as i feel nature and wildlife had just as much a right to live as us..but are there numbers increasing?
It seems as well that there are no natural predators to balance out magpie numbers?

Arequipa

Just to add that I think they are a very handsome bird, and their feisty and inquisitive nature is very interesting to observe....it just seems that they are dominating the birds in suburban areas😉😉

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

They are thought to be in an ecological equilibrium at the moment. Pre WW1 their numbers plummeted due to persecution but increased rapidly from 1970 to mid 1990s, when the numbers levelled out. Urban and sub urban populations grew more quickly than those in rural areas. Towns afford them more opportunities for scavenging food, allow earlier nesting due to being warmer, and the presence of people deters predators. It may appear that they dominate in urban areas but their numbers have no impact on those of other species.

Arequipa

Hi mate... Thanks for the reply.
I understand that magpies have made a comeback, particularly in urban areas, and dont negatively affect the numbers of other birds... But they do predate nests of songbirds, the black bird for sure...

But i think they are so loud and boisterous that they make their presence felt in urban areas!

Birdnuts

Goshawks keep their numbers in check on the continent

Arequipa

yea.. an amazing bird...saw a goshawk on Springwatch last week..
I imagine a healthy ecosystem has a variety of predators that keep creatures below them in the foodchain's numbers in check...
We have nice wildlife here but considerably less variety of bird and mammal species because we were not connected to the European continent at the end of the last Ice Age...

Magpies are an introduced species right?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Arequipa wrote: »

yea.. an amazing bird...saw a goshawk on Springwatch last week..
I imagine a healthy ecosystem has a variety of predators that keep creatures below them in the foodchain's numbers in check...
We have nice wildlife here but considerably less variety of bird and mammal species because we were not connected to the European continent at the end of the last Ice Age...

Magpies are an introduced species right?

It is believed that magpies were first recorded in Wexford in 1676 when up to a dozen flew across the Irish sea from Britain.

Magpies are a recent(ish) addition to our list of Native birds. They are not introduced though (an urban myth has them arriving with the Normans) It is believed that magpies were first recorded in Wexford in 1676 when up to a dozen flew across the Irish sea from Britain. They settled here naturally.

Arequipa

Ah okay...I thought that they were an introduced species...
thank u... it is interesting that they just flew across to Wexford!

magicbastarder

i've also heard a tale that the irish distaste for magpies stems from them arriving with cromwell. which would have them arriving here a little earlier than the date Srameen mentions; but it's just a folk tale.

Graces7

I have thankfully only heard magpies once here ; we have no trees. west mayo offshore

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

magicbastarder wrote: »

i've also heard a tale that the irish distaste for magpies stems from them arriving with cromwell. which would have them arriving here a little earlier than the date Srameen mentions; but it's just a folk tale.

There is so much twaddle and superstitious and irrational nonsense about Magpies; usually from people who haven't the first notion about Nature in general, don't understand the role Magpies take in our natural environment and know nothing of the behaviour of Magpies. Here's a old report that sums it all up nicely.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7316384.stm

Tiercel Dave

A little music.....

Graces7

magicbastarder wrote: »

i've also heard a tale that the irish distaste for magpies stems from them arriving with cromwell. which would have them arriving here a little earlier than the date Srameen mentions; but it's just a folk tale.

Be that as it may, my intense dislike from a UK citizen is from having them in tall trees by my windows and that appalling raucous din! And having them attack my young cats. I trained the dog to " see 'em off" very successfully and someone here on boards suggested banging pans near where they were planning to nest. Worked grand.

Plenty of other places for them to go. :eek: Nothing against them as a species just not near me!

Here there are no trees; they reconnoitred once. got seen off by seagulls and crows and never came back.

Now I have the sweet melody of the skylark. Vastly preferable

recedite

There is a temporary abundance of magpies just now as they are going around in family groups, the young look around the same size as the parent but are often begging for food from them.


Animals that we class as pests are often smart, adaptable and resilient, which is why they thrive despite us. Maybe that's partly why people don't tend to like them; they use us, but they don't need us.

The likes of rats and magpies may not be the most popular, but they deserve some respect.
Magpies are amazingly adaptable. One day you see them at a peanut feeder, the next day they are eating some road kill or carrion.