29 October 2013

Leave the baby magpies alone

| johnboy
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magpies

TAMS are asking you to let baby magpies be:

Echoing the recent plea from the RSPCA-ACT, Territory and Municipal Services rangers today urged the public not to mistakenly rescue baby magpies that may appear to be abandoned on the ground.

“Each year, many members of the public make the kind-hearted mistake of assuming a fledgling is injured or abandoned, and attempt to rescue the bird and take it to the RSPCA,” Kristy Gould, Parks and Conservation Ranger, said today.

“It’s not often the young birds are injured, rather, they are still mastering the essential skill of flying.

The parents of the fledgling are usually close by watching over the bird as it learns to take flight. This learning process can take a couple of days; however some fledglings may take longer than others.

“If people believe the fledgling is in harm’s way, for example if there is a dog or a cat nearby, place the bird back in the nest or leave them as high as possible near the nest.”

[Photo by Toby Hudson, Via Wikimedia]

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JazzyJess said :

dph said :

I live across from a park.

5-10 yrs ago during Spring, you couldn’t walk through their without being swooped by a Magpie.

In the last couple of yrs, nothing. The Magpies continue to go about their business, even when you walk within feet of their presence. They’re not fazed at all.

I’m wondering whether they’ve simply become used to the environment, as the park gets a fair bit of foot traffic walking through on a daily basis or whether they’re nesting elsewhere?

Also, they will occasionally swoop on dogs that stray through the park. Never humans though.

I asked a vet about this (i.e. why do some magpies swoop and not others) and his take was that birds swoop if they’ve had negative experiences of humans in the past. Makes sense to me.

Which includes do-gooders trying to rescue their chicks. Another good reason to leave them alone.

dph said :

I live across from a park.

5-10 yrs ago during Spring, you couldn’t walk through their without being swooped by a Magpie.

In the last couple of yrs, nothing. The Magpies continue to go about their business, even when you walk within feet of their presence. They’re not fazed at all.

I’m wondering whether they’ve simply become used to the environment, as the park gets a fair bit of foot traffic walking through on a daily basis or whether they’re nesting elsewhere?

Also, they will occasionally swoop on dogs that stray through the park. Never humans though.

I asked a vet about this (i.e. why do some magpies swoop and not others) and his take was that birds swoop if they’ve had negative experiences of humans in the past. Makes sense to me.

I live across from a park.

5-10 yrs ago during Spring, you couldn’t walk through their without being swooped by a Magpie.

In the last couple of yrs, nothing. The Magpies continue to go about their business, even when you walk within feet of their presence. They’re not fazed at all.

I’m wondering whether they’ve simply become used to the environment, as the park gets a fair bit of foot traffic walking through on a daily basis or whether they’re nesting elsewhere?

Also, they will occasionally swoop on dogs that stray through the park. Never humans though.

Watson said :

astrojax said :

Watson said :

Robertson said :

Feed them.
They are very sociable once they learn to trust you. When I water the garden, I have a couple of magpies that walk around alongside me, gargling at me. If I leave the kitchen door open, they come inside and scout around the kitchen floor for crumbs and scraps. Lovely birds, magpies.

I love magpies, but I can’t stand animals begging for food. And I don’t like any wildlife getting too close to me. They’re wild, they’re unpredictable, there needs to be a buffer zone.

you live in their wild.

And your point is?

I don’t shove my face into a wild animal’s face either. And I’m very happy to share but my house is not their wild, thankyouverymuch.

who are you addressing with ‘there needs to be a buffer zone’? who do you expect to erect this buffer? to what effect? perhaps more pertinently, to what environmental detriment? i only meant, as george w. bush inferred in his famous phrase – man and fish can co-exist – that like james dean said, why can’t we all just get along?

shauno said :

Plenty around here and Currawongs but notice how Magpies get pretty friendly and will basically walk up to you take food out your hand without much effort. But Currawongs are the opposite they seem way more wary then Magpies. Just something I was observing the other day while having a beer on my front porch!

And then there are the bower birds that instantly take flight if they even see you simply look at them. The wattle birds are a bit more sociable, but the magpies are definitely on our wavelength. I’ve long considered the idea that the aborigines may have had a special relationship with them, because they are so very sociable.

astrojax said :

Watson said :

Robertson said :

Feed them.
They are very sociable once they learn to trust you. When I water the garden, I have a couple of magpies that walk around alongside me, gargling at me. If I leave the kitchen door open, they come inside and scout around the kitchen floor for crumbs and scraps. Lovely birds, magpies.

I love magpies, but I can’t stand animals begging for food. And I don’t like any wildlife getting too close to me. They’re wild, they’re unpredictable, there needs to be a buffer zone.

you live in their wild.

Presumably they live in his suburb.

poetix said :

Watson said :

Robertson said :

Feed them.
They are very sociable once they learn to trust you. When I water the garden, I have a couple of magpies that walk around alongside me, gargling at me. If I leave the kitchen door open, they come inside and scout around the kitchen floor for crumbs and scraps. Lovely birds, magpies.

I love magpies, but I can’t stand animals begging for food. And I don’t like any wildlife getting too close to me. They’re wild, they’re unpredictable, there needs to be a buffer zone.

Never have chips near seagulls! Lovely when you look at one on its own, but hideous in flocks. Mind you, I get the same feeling near food-courts.

Ah, but the fun you can have….attract the seagulls’ attention by flinging a chip or two in the air, then wait until some inattentive parent’s toddler wanders past, throw a couple of handfuls of chips around the child – the seagulls pounce on the chips and the toddler ends up at the centre of a maelstrom of sqawking, flapping seagulls. He he he. Most entertaining.

Put them back in the nest? If TAMS think im going to climb that tree, they can GAGF!

astrojax said :

Watson said :

Robertson said :

Feed them.
They are very sociable once they learn to trust you. When I water the garden, I have a couple of magpies that walk around alongside me, gargling at me. If I leave the kitchen door open, they come inside and scout around the kitchen floor for crumbs and scraps. Lovely birds, magpies.

I love magpies, but I can’t stand animals begging for food. And I don’t like any wildlife getting too close to me. They’re wild, they’re unpredictable, there needs to be a buffer zone.

you live in their wild.

And your point is?

I don’t shove my face into a wild animal’s face either. And I’m very happy to share but my house is not their wild, thankyouverymuch.

Tooks said :

zorro29 said :

Tooks said :

zorro29 said :

leave /them/ alone??? tell them to leave /us/ alone! the magpie swoopings (and constant anxiety during spring months) is definitely the one thing i don’t miss about canberra

I don’t understand why adults are afraid of birds. Bizarre.

i am more afraid of them now than i ever was as a kid….bird phobia is actually very common (one of the top phobias for adults). for me it’s the flapping wings…i have a fear of them flying at me (particularly near my face).

so penguins are all good with me 🙂

but i’m sure you’re afraid of stuff that other people find bizarre as well – like a lot of people are afraid of snakes, but i love them. phobias aren’t based on logic or rational thought.

i won’t ever be sold on magpies. while you can make friends with local ones, it doesn’t stop the random ones from attacking. can’t stand them…and canberra has /way/ too many of them (which probably explains their unusually aggressive behaviour)

Fair points. I’m not afraid of snakes, but some spiders do bug me (terrible pun intended). I wasn’t talking so much about people with bird phobias, but the ones who carry on like they’re getting attacked by giant vampire bats when they’re getting swooped. Most magpies will just squawk and flap around near your head and very few will make contact. Not worth getting worked up about.

sure, nothing to get worked up about in-principle; but note that no spider that makes a hanging web, ie one you’ll walk into snooping about trees and the like, is dangerous to man – but that doesn’t seem to stop most people dancing about in a sort of terror-dance wiping the silk and, hopefully, beastie, off themselves…

astrojax – where in sydney was that? i live in sydney (admittedly near the CBD and your example may have been in the suburbs) and there are very few magpies anywhere (and the ones that are around, aren’t at all aggressive)

(i’ll know to avoid whatever area it was!)

Holden Caulfield2:15 pm 29 Oct 13

Tooks said :

…I wasn’t talking so much about people with bird phobias, but the ones who carry on like they’re getting attacked by giant vampire bats when they’re getting swooped…

You win my mid-90s walk down memory lane prize for the day!

Tooks said :

Fair points. I’m not afraid of snakes, but some spiders do bug me (terrible pun intended). I wasn’t talking so much about people with bird phobias, but the ones who carry on like they’re getting attacked by giant vampire bats when they’re getting swooped. Most magpies will just squawk and flap around near your head and very few will make contact. Not worth getting worked up about.

It’s insects for me, especially roaches/beetles. I don’t like spiders much either but they’re still nowhere near as repulsive to me as a cockroach, even though spiders have the potential to cause actual harm.

Watson said :

Robertson said :

Feed them.
They are very sociable once they learn to trust you. When I water the garden, I have a couple of magpies that walk around alongside me, gargling at me. If I leave the kitchen door open, they come inside and scout around the kitchen floor for crumbs and scraps. Lovely birds, magpies.

I love magpies, but I can’t stand animals begging for food. And I don’t like any wildlife getting too close to me. They’re wild, they’re unpredictable, there needs to be a buffer zone.

Never have chips near seagulls! Lovely when you look at one on its own, but hideous in flocks. Mind you, I get the same feeling near food-courts.

zorro29 said :

Tooks said :

zorro29 said :

leave /them/ alone??? tell them to leave /us/ alone! the magpie swoopings (and constant anxiety during spring months) is definitely the one thing i don’t miss about canberra

I don’t understand why adults are afraid of birds. Bizarre.

i am more afraid of them now than i ever was as a kid….bird phobia is actually very common (one of the top phobias for adults). for me it’s the flapping wings…i have a fear of them flying at me (particularly near my face).

so penguins are all good with me 🙂

but i’m sure you’re afraid of stuff that other people find bizarre as well – like a lot of people are afraid of snakes, but i love them. phobias aren’t based on logic or rational thought.

i won’t ever be sold on magpies. while you can make friends with local ones, it doesn’t stop the random ones from attacking. can’t stand them…and canberra has /way/ too many of them (which probably explains their unusually aggressive behaviour)

Fair points. I’m not afraid of snakes, but some spiders do bug me (terrible pun intended). I wasn’t talking so much about people with bird phobias, but the ones who carry on like they’re getting attacked by giant vampire bats when they’re getting swooped. Most magpies will just squawk and flap around near your head and very few will make contact. Not worth getting worked up about.

zorro29 said :

Tooks said :

zorro29 said :

(which probably explains their unusually aggressive behaviour)

unusually? i remember being coralled on my school’s fenced double basketball/tennis courts, cowering by the brick wall in its middle as a couple of nesting magpies glowered at me. i was maybe eleven, and wasn’t brave enough to venture away until another couple of kids rode up on their bikes and i hightailed it home. this was sydney. i don’t think the nation’s capital has the maggie aggression to itself…

i am always nice to maggies now – always say hello. and i am entirely enamoured of their song; one of nature’s most beautiful things.

Watson said :

Robertson said :

Feed them.
They are very sociable once they learn to trust you. When I water the garden, I have a couple of magpies that walk around alongside me, gargling at me. If I leave the kitchen door open, they come inside and scout around the kitchen floor for crumbs and scraps. Lovely birds, magpies.

I love magpies, but I can’t stand animals begging for food. And I don’t like any wildlife getting too close to me. They’re wild, they’re unpredictable, there needs to be a buffer zone.

you live in their wild.

Woody Mann-Caruso1:00 pm 29 Oct 13

No, baby magpies on the ground are going to be irresistible.

Judging by the number of babies in our neighbourhood, the very large number of cats (six in our small cul-de-sac alone) seem to be resisting rather well. Our cat, for example, merely sulks while the baby magpies helps themselves to the cat food about six inches from his head. They even have conversations.

Tooks said :

zorro29 said :

leave /them/ alone??? tell them to leave /us/ alone! the magpie swoopings (and constant anxiety during spring months) is definitely the one thing i don’t miss about canberra

I don’t understand why adults are afraid of birds. Bizarre.

i am more afraid of them now than i ever was as a kid….bird phobia is actually very common (one of the top phobias for adults). for me it’s the flapping wings…i have a fear of them flying at me (particularly near my face).

so penguins are all good with me 🙂

but i’m sure you’re afraid of stuff that other people find bizarre as well – like a lot of people are afraid of snakes, but i love them. phobias aren’t based on logic or rational thought.

i won’t ever be sold on magpies. while you can make friends with local ones, it doesn’t stop the random ones from attacking. can’t stand them…and canberra has /way/ too many of them (which probably explains their unusually aggressive behaviour)

Plenty around here and Currawongs but notice how Magpies get pretty friendly and will basically walk up to you take food out your hand without much effort. But Currawongs are the opposite they seem way more wary then Magpies. Just something I was observing the other day while having a beer on my front porch!

Robertson said :

Feed them.
They are very sociable once they learn to trust you. When I water the garden, I have a couple of magpies that walk around alongside me, gargling at me. If I leave the kitchen door open, they come inside and scout around the kitchen floor for crumbs and scraps. Lovely birds, magpies.

I love magpies, but I can’t stand animals begging for food. And I don’t like any wildlife getting too close to me. They’re wild, they’re unpredictable, there needs to be a buffer zone.

Feed them.
They are very sociable once they learn to trust you. When I water the garden, I have a couple of magpies that walk around alongside me, gargling at me. If I leave the kitchen door open, they come inside and scout around the kitchen floor for crumbs and scraps. Lovely birds, magpies.

zorro29 said :

leave /them/ alone??? tell them to leave /us/ alone! the magpie swoopings (and constant anxiety during spring months) is definitely the one thing i don’t miss about canberra

I don’t understand why adults are afraid of birds. Bizarre.

I agree with the general sentiment but am confused. Do they want us to leave them alone or put them back in the nest? And have you seen how high most of those magpie nests are? You need a cherry picker to reach them…

I once put a cardboard box with a hole cut out over a magpie to protect him from dogs and cats. He didn’t particularly like it, but I thought it was worth a try.

I used to be one of those bleeding hearts wanting to rush every baby magpie on the ground to the rangers when I was a fresh migrant. Now I just leave them, even if I think there’s a chance they won’t survive. It’s up to nature. It’s not as if they’re endangered.

leave /them/ alone??? tell them to leave /us/ alone! the magpie swoopings (and constant anxiety during spring months) is definitely the one thing i don’t miss about canberra

Leave the baby magpies alone and keep your cat inside. That’s what the headline should read.

I know people argue that cats need to be kept in around sunset, night time and sunrise because that’s when they do their killing. No, baby magpies on the ground are going to be irresistible. Keep your cat inside.

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