Friendly magpie....

[NDA]

Popped into my local today and a magpie swooped down, sat with me for a bit, had a sip of my beer, was contented to be stroked.... flew off.

Seemed in very good health. I assume a hand reared bird that had maybe escaped.

[abzmike]

Buy a lottery ticket, magpies are supposed to be lucky. Mrs ABZ is religious about saluting if she sees one, even better two as they tend to hang around in pairs.

[Boosted LS1]

Gosh those feathers are beautiful. He's probably used to picking up scraps at the pub and always been treated positively. Did he steal your car keys and drive off?

Edited by Boosted LS1 on Monday 6th May 17:06

[Gameface]

Very cool. Always liked magpies.

[Mort7]

Gameface said:

Very cool. Always liked magpies.

+1.

[Mr Pointy]

Horrible birds. One of the few that (until recently) you could cull under the General Licences.

[alfie2244]

Lovely to look at but every year they decimate the nesting birds in our trees and bushes by taking their eggs & young....but that's nature I suppose.

Often watch one being chased / chasing our resident squirrel but never quite sure which way round though.

[Boosted LS1]

Mr Pointy said:

Horrible birds. One of the few that (until recently) you could cull under the General Licences.

Yes but we eat meet as well. It's nature and what the bird does.

[Roofless Toothless]

I had a magpie visit our picnic table during a barbecue some years back. Spent quite some time with us, checking what we had. Absolutely beautiful up close.

Unfortunately, they are cold hearted killers. A gang of them cleared all the blue tits out of a tree by us a few years ago, the screaming was unbelievable and the tree literally shook. The tits haven't been back since.

[Boosted LS1]

I saved a blackbird being pecked to death behind a tree on the local park. Despite being by the main footpath nobody batted an eyelid even though there was clearly an attempted murder in progress. 3 weeks later I released the blackbird with new feathers. Did it thank me, did it fk, lol?

[NDA]

Boosted LS1 said:

He's probably used to picking up scraps at the pub and always been treated positively. Did he steal your car keys and drive off?

He was new to the pub - had never been there before today.... he did peck at my car keys and I had to rescue them!

I felt rather conflicted today as I have shot many magpies over the years, but he (or she) was rather lovely.... but I do know that they are ruthless killers of smaller birds.

[Boosted LS1]

Will you shoot another one?

Last summer one killed a baby starling on my roof. For days it came back for bits of sun roasted starling including the head. It had chicks in a nearby conifer to feed. It was a horrible event and similar to a heron catching another baby starling with all the commotion that went with it.

[NDA]

Boosted LS1 said:

Will you shoot another one?

The law says I can't now - but that aside, I'm not sure actually.

I have gone a bit softer in my older age - I used to shoot every rabbit I saw on my land, now I tend to leave them to it.

[Boosted LS1]

^ I'm a bit like that as well. A bird kills a chick, you shoot a bird. It just seems like some sort of a circle but we're the misfits fking it all up.

I like all wild life but some species are pretty horrible.

[AstonZagato]

That's extraordinary. Never seen a magpie that tame.

Around my way, we seem to to have a surfeit of the things. I see three or four on most local journeys. A day of gardening and I'll see about the same.

Magpies and Jays are both beautiful to look at but horrible things.

[Equus]

Boosted LS1 said:

Last summer one killed a baby starling on my roof. For days it came back for bits of sun roasted starling including the head.

Looking on the bright side, they are also known for eating and feeding their chicks dogst, so help clean up a little.

Although the OP may want to bear that in mind before sharing his beer with one...

[NDA]

Equus said:

Looking on the bright side, they are also known for eating and feeding their chicks dogst, so help clean up a little.

Although the OP may want to bear that in mind before sharing his beer with one...

Now you tell me!

[generationx]

Someone I know has a cat that has made friends with a local magpie, it is quite submissive near the bird with no aggression or hunting behaviour at all. Very funny situation - the magpie just takes the piss.

[Schmeeky]

That's pretty damn cool OP!

There's a very good book, Corvus: A Life with Birds by Esther Woolfson, a lady who has taken in and looked after a number of birds - crows and magpies. Very intelligent (for birds) with loads of character.

[boyse7en]

When I was building my garage we had a Jay that used to come and watch. Would perch on the top of the wall and watch us for hours, occasionally flying down to sit on my shoulder for a while or to try and pinch a few screws from the box