Magpie warning call ~ my cat willow :-) ~ British Birds UK ~ wildlife videos

[MrJonnyboyification]

reminds me a bit like the sound of a rattle snake!

[malte2904]

cmon u dont have a clue if u say magpies are big songbird killers....In total their living food is only at 11 %(didnt mention insects(up too 45 %). That amount is topped by a looooooot of other animals....

[shea333]

what kind of camera is that?

[simbirdcom]

Hi @shea333 ~ This Magpie was taken with a Canon S5 + Telephoto lens :-)

[XDSTUPIDXD]

Hello Mr. Magpie :)

[JODIMAR45]

Magpies and cats 2 biggest killers of songbirds!

[simbirdcom]

Hi @JODIMAR45 ~ I did not know Magpies killed Songbirds... I know Woodpeckers will take eggs / chicks by pecking the entrance hole bigger ! So I have put metal on guards :-) My cat is too old to do anything now and just tries to annoy them by sitting and waiting around below the high up tree feeders, which she can not climb up to now ! ;-)

[JODIMAR45]

@simbirdcom Hi..Yes magpies take eggs and young birds from other birds nests and also kill young birds on the ground which are unable to fly or defend themselves but alas as people keep telling me 'THIS IS NATURE' which is true but there are far too many magpies around these days..If you have magpies in your garden you will have very few songbirds successfully rearing there young.

[lottiesocks]

@JODIMAR45

If the Magpies are raising young nearby, then your songbird population is safe. They're highly intelligent, and they like to keep a songbird population alive near their nest, because they help to warn them about predators.

However, if they're not nesting in your garden, but only passing through, then they may kill the songbirds. But they only do that for a short period of the year. Most of the year they eat other things.

[JODIMAR45]

@lottiesocks Please do not believe everything you see on tv or read in magazines especially things Bill Oddie and the like tell you.I have studied Magpies and Carrion Crows for many,many years and believe me if they are nesting nearby or not they will take any young bird or any eggs they can get their thieving beaks on.A freind of mine 2 doors away from me had a magpies nest in her garden and a robins,2 blackbirds,a song thrush and a dunnock and the magpies took the eggs and all the young .

[phailandaids]

@JODIMAR45 my neighbour (also 2 doors down) had all his goldfinches raided by magpies.....we are now taking steps to thin out the magpie population

[JODIMAR45]

@phailandaids Good luck!...Give them hell!...This summer so far i have seen them raiding numerous songbirds nests at the nursery where i work....

[phailandaids]

@JODIMAR45 Buy yourself an air rifle (.177 is best for birds) and start taking them down, Magpies are very smart and you will rarely get more than 2-3 on the same bait/decoy (although I got 4 the other week), I picked a dead squirrel out the road today to use as bait for an early AM garden hunt, all the young have just hatched and the adults will be looking for easy food.

[JODIMAR45]

@phailandaids I do have airguns fella and also use a larsen trap for the magpies and also carrion crows...We have the thieving magpies under control around the village where i live but the tree and shrub nursery where i work i have their number!!!...All the best..... Jodimar

[phailandaids]

@JODIMAR45 apparently a big reason magpies have tripled in numbers is because the amount we use our cars has resulted in lots more "roadkill" providing the magpies with an endless food source

[JODIMAR45]

@simbirdcom Also did you know that grey squirrels also account for many,many birds eggs and young bird?

[gluepot66]

@simbirdcom magpies steal chics out of the nest and eat them alive, as well as taking songbird eggs. 

[Illustrallistics]

@JODIMAR45 Incorrect. Cats and Farming are the biggest killers of songbirds. Get out of the dark ages and read up on the subject.

[JODIMAR45]

@Illustrallistics Do not believe everything you read or watch on tv young man...I have studied corvids of which magpies are a member for many years and their effect on ground nesting and song song birds is huge though yes i agree farming also does have a substantial effect too though nowadays quite a number of farmers are aware of the problem and are redressing the situation though unfortunately not all as they still try to produce food as cheap as possible.

[Jonbjn]

a couple of magpies sqawk loader than this in the morning sometimes it woke me up this morning is it their alarm bell signalling a cat? i never knew that lol!

[JODIMAR45]

Thwack!!

[johnpflyrc]

I've just seen a cat dragging a large pigeon behind our shed. Within a couple of minutes several magpies were in the tree nearby behaving exactly like the one in this video.

[SuperStefferz]

I love this Magpie's call! :D

[kclama]

Ha ha, noisy guy....