magpies - even in the house! decoy?

[lynseya]

Hi everyone,

Ive got a bit of a problem!

We just moved in to the house at the beginning of this year! - putting our bird feeders up was one of the first things we did! We got lovely birds visiting almost instantly - loads of siskins, couple of goldfinches, even long tailed tits popped by once each day. Mr blackbird, and 'angry' robin were also local residents! Lovely to watch!

However, for the last month we have a group of 10 magpies decending on the garden. Throughout the whole day.
Literally all of out little birdies have gone :-(

I dont mind a few magpies popping by to get their dinner - however i do mind them monopolizing the whole garden to the detriment of everything else.

Now... the straw that has broken the camels back is them coming in to thde house! Twice now (we did wonder if the first time was just an accident on the magpies behalf) a magpie has come in to the house, and wondered up the stairs tottering about and pooing a lot in the bedroom or spare room. Not acceptable!

I do like having the backdoor open to get fresh air in - so dont think that the magpies should be able to hold me captive!!

I wish them no harm (the two in the house were captured with a dressing gown and let back out), but i do want them to bu**er off!

Been reading about owl and hawk 'decoys' to scare them away. Anyone had any experience of them? Would definately go for them if the little songbirds would be ok visiting again. - i wouldnt want to scare everything away!

Also planning on a few nestboxes for next year, so would not want the plastic owls/hawks to interfere with this.

Help!

Lynsey.

[~T~]

That is a bit of a dilemma. What food are you putting out? I notice when I feed fat balls and kitchen scraps I get a lot of corvids but with just various seed they usually don't bother with it leaving the smaller birds to feed on it. I don't think these plastic decoys are any use as I would think they would scare all birds initially and then when birds realise they are not actual birds of prey they will ignore them.

[~T~]

Ha just noticed you are in Glasgow too, it IS sunny today for a change eh?

[lynseya]

Sunny for a chsnge considering the last weeks weather efforts! Hail stones etc!

The food at the moment is just mixed bird seed and niger, and occasional bread.

The peanut feeder was murdered by the squirrel so waiting for the squirrel proof feeder to arrive!

Lynsey.

[Tringa]

You could try guards around the feeders which may stop them.

In our garden the feeders are gaurded (against squirrels) and we very rarely have a magpie, until we put mealworms out.

Dave

[kathateria]

OMG,i bet its like Alfred Hitchcock...The Birds!

If it was me,I wouldnt feed the birds for a while.
Or just stick to seed in feeders,that only little birds can get to.

Would you take a picture? I do love magpies!

[sunnydale]

Hi Lynsey

I wonder if the previous residents encouraged/allowed the Magpies into the house? It's a possibility and if so, they could be acting out of habit!

I once had a young Magpie that would come onto my balcony and sit on a shelf. If I went out there and bent to pick something up, he would hop onto my back!
He also had a habit of stealing things! Little shells or glass pebbles etc!
I had a little ceramic pixie that I really loved - but he took off with it and I never saw it again!

Hope you resolve the problem soon.

Tracey

[twitchyt]

l have a leafy archway where l put the feeders for seed, also put scraps in a hanging basket used by tits sparrows occassionally blackbirds, further up the garden l put a tray on a high pole 7ft where l put large feed taken by wood pigeon, magpie, starling, anyone who cares to call, the robin and magpie seem to be the cheekiest birds but never heard of them going in the house, msybe someone has encouraged them, wonder if a fluffy toy cat by the door would be a deterrent, though l have actually seen magpie chase and peck a cat, risky. l think of them as the English parrot, with their long tails and chatter.

[Cotham Marble]

Originally Posted by lynseya

However, for the last month we have a group of 10 magpies decending on the garden. Throughout the whole day.
Literally all of out little birdies have gone :

It may be that the two events - arrival of magpies, disappearance of smaller birds, are not related, or at least only connected in a limited way. Many winter garden residents will find nesting opportunities some distance away from their winter range - several hundred miles have be recorded for some blackbirds ! So while the magpies may have been an element in making your local area unattractive as a nesting location, the magpies may not be the sole cause.

In your circumstance I would simply stop feeding, remove the feeders and actually make the garden a non bird zone for the next month or so, and be activly unfriendly toward the magpies.

CM

[lynseya]

righto then!
No feeding anyone for a wee while! i'll wait till this feeders empty and that will do them!

see how we get on! Thanks!