magpies

[rapidresponse1]

hardly seen any in the summer months this morning spotted about 12 youngsters in the local park

[Kuyajonathan]

Edge of Chesterfield/Peak District we regularly see groups of 2-6 Magpies, lot of straggly looking youngsters last month.
sometimes check out bird table, but its set up with small bird feeder so move on

[Phil Russell]

Quite a few here ... we suspect a family group. Quite amusing at times .. when our cat comes home with a catch, usually a mouse, and leaves remnants on the lawn it only takes a minute or two for a magpie to swoop down and fly off with the spoils. Sometimes they wait in trees on the garden edge until the cat moves away then they swoop down.
Cheers, Phil

[Steyr]

Lack of magpies is a good thing. They are quiet a handsome bird up close but their predilection makes them a bit environmentally unfriendly

[Phil Russell]

Lack of magpies is a good thing. They are quiet a handsome bird up close but their predilection makes them a bit environmentally unfriendly

You could well be right but several (20+) years ago I came across a report, can't remember who from, that suggested that magpies were not the key predators of wild song birds that they were thought to be. So I stopped targeting them in the garden (it was quite OK then, not so sure now but I think it is not allowed in domestic gardens). Our songbirds in the garden seem quite OK although we have noticed a variation in numbers of individual species. For our part, we do not mind 'our' magpies eating bits of cat food, bits of dead mice (as above) and seeds etc dropped from the bird table. We use the excuse that if they feed on these scraps they are unlikely to go for song birds.
Squirrels are eating apples now ... not noticed this before.

Cheers, Phil

[MartynB]

Loads in the orchard at the bottom of my garden, what I haven't seen is many song birds

[Muskett]

Magpies can be seen in their family groups of four to six. Add with two family groups together that's a lot.
Fantastic birds that are doing exceedingly well. Annoyingly they predate small bird nests taking eggs, hatchlings, and anything in trouble. They will even attack their own.
Young Magpies don't have much experience and always hungry, so get it wrong/dead, and pretty easy to control. You will be doing song birds a favour if you can reduce their numbers on your patch. Noisy, dandy, thugs of the bird world.

The wet summer was not kind to insects, butterflies, or small song birds.

[scorpiont10]

Plenty around me, in fact I had a local lady complain about them taking all the food from her bird table every day. Managed to find a spot exactly 50 yards from her feeder and the Airwolf rid her of 5 of them in as many minutes. They are a menace that will clear a hedgerow of Eggs or fledglings by working their way through in a group, very clever and with superb eyesight.

[Blackrider]

Hardly any around us, only seen four in six years. Game estates
Same with fox and Greys.

Should add; Spars take more songbirds locally !

[BEESA]

The Parakeets scare them of around here lol
Don

[32:1]

Plenty here at home and a few miles away at our daughters, she must have over a dozen visiting the bird tables and local gardens. They have now stopped putting feed out as the small birds just don’t visit anymore and at home we have lost the goldfinches and blue tits. We have seen a massive increase in magpies, jackdaws and wood pigeons.

[micky2]

Plenty here at home and a few miles away at our daughters, she must have over a dozen visiting the bird tables and local gardens. They have now stopped putting feed out as the small birds just don’t visit anymore and at home we have lost the goldfinches and blue tits. We have seen a massive increase in magpies, jackdaws and wood pigeons.

We have a few magpies here, but we have a lot goldfinches 2 lots of youngsters this year again, plus lots of blue tits, we only use bird feeders no tables

[Bellycrawler]

Once a rural bird, skittish as they was shot on sight by farmers. Now they are more urban & even found in city centers

[angrybear]

I've got loads around but they don't sit still for long, also several Jays, Sparrow Hawks & Buzzards, But there are still dozens of songbirds, Pigeons & Crows.

[32:1]

We have a few magpies here, but we have a lot goldfinches 2 lots of youngsters this year again, plus lots of blue tits, we only use bird feeders no tables

We are quite rural and used to get a real mix of small birds, longtailed tits and bullfinches were especially nice to see, but now we only see the resident blackbird and a robin now and then. The neighbourhood all say the same and some say it was covid 😂 but since coincidentally since then we have lost our small birds and gained jackdaws, woodys, magpies and kites.
My last two peanut socks rotted away as nothing visited and we now have to feed the hedgehogs as there’s no spill for them 😉