Magpie
Magpies are hated by many bird lovers. People love small, fluffy songbirds and want to protect them. Magpies are clever corvids which manage to be both scavengers and predators, including of songbird eggs and nestlings. That’s led to generations of persecution, including inhumane trapping and shooting of Magpies, all of which has been legalised under very loose and uninspected conditions. People insist that songbird populations are declining and that Magpies are to blame. It’s nonsense. It’s a childish inability to deal with what animals in the natural world eat.
I love them and think we should leave them alone. Wildlife; the clue is in the name. Here’s a classic social media battle on Magpies:
And that’s from an owner of a bird-killing, top-predator cat. The answers are always entertaining:
And here’s my particular favourite:
We dislike Magpies because we still have a primitive-ape animal fear of predators and project that upon the Magpie – songbird relationship. We identify with the songbird and wish to defend it against attack. It’s embarrassing that the policy of successive Governments has been based upon this primitive reaction, leading to widespread persecution. At some stage the human race will have to mature, understand its own motivations and protect the predator as well as the prey. Wildlife; the clue is in the name.
More Magpies
The Magpie’s Box We were at Tate Britain in London a month or so ago when my eye was drawn to this exhibit,… read more
Nativity While in London, the Puffin Whisperer and I took the opportunity to visit the National Gallery to see Piero della… read more
Urban Corvids We're got three species of corvids in this London park. Firstly, there's the robust Carrion Crows, with their large beaks… read more
The Magpie and its nidopallium Have you noticed how smart and aware Eurasian Magpies are? There appears to be a lot going on in their… read more
Walking the walk Magpies are one of the most difficult birds to photograph. The human eye sees light and shade in a completely… read more
Two for Joy Magpies are currently building their nests around the parish. Their nests seem like great untidy bundles of sticks in trees;… read more
2021 highlights of a wilder Devon life – part 1 Looking back at my blogs from 2021 it's clear that I had some great wildlife experiences and managed to document… read more
Fence-sitter I hate sharp fences. They're there to make sure property is protected, but their defence often turns into attack when… read more
After sticks comes mud The Magpies have finished constructing their nest. Here's one bringing in the twigs to construct the base. The roof was… read more