Another tame magpie

Came to us via the wildlife hospital. Found in the wild, but obviously too used to humans, as he had been landing on people. Not releasable.

I should point out that he's scruffy because he'd just had a bath, and pecked me because he didn't want his damp feathers ruffled!

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• Magpie
• Bird
• Tame
• Pica Pica

[benjaminfrank1in]

how old are they when they start eating themselves?

after they start eating themselves can u let them go free?

i rescued a baby magpie - in the morning it eats by itself but during the day we have to feed it but it only takes like 2 mouthfuls then stops

[CapnBlackbird]

@benjaminfrank1in It takes a couple of months for them to be fully weaned. Whether you can release them afterwards or not depends on how attached they are to humans. A single magpie would be best taken to a wildlife hospital or sanctuary to avoid it becoming too human-dependent.

[robstyley]

hello CapnBlackbird, you obviously have experience with these birds. how do they become tame? one turned up in my garden about a week ago and it's like a bloody pet now! it's well funny. It comes and goes, I feed it sometimes. it probably sounds stupid but it's actually got personality you know? it's wierd. it's like a cat or dog, it follows me about, completely tame. it can be a pest but it can also be really calm. I wanted to find out more about them. I have many videos! I'll put some on

[CapnBlackbird]

They DO have a personality - take that from someone who lives with a magpie on a permanent basis! They're at least as clever (and cheeky) as a toddler. Our indoor magpie was hand-reared by us and became too tame to release. The one in the video lives in our garden aviary and was presumably also hand-reared. It was brought to the wildlife hospital after terrorising the local postmen.

[CapnBlackbird]

Magpies, and all other members of the crow family, are smart enough to know when humans are doing them a favour. Yours may also have been hand-reared and still sees humans as a good food source. I'd love to see videos!

[ANBU625]

wow that bird looks very royal with those feathers like that. XD looks like its dressed for opra.

[rhiannurrrn]

i miss my magpie ):

[Nizzemancer]

one of nine animals that recognize itself in a mirror and the only bird that does so, cute little fellow, I used to love their black and white contrasts as a child, don't see many of them nowdays though, didn't know you could tame them either...

[CapnBlackbird]

You can use a good quality canned cat or dog food which should provide enough nutrition and moisture so you don't need to also give water. Depending on where you are, keeping a magpie might be illegal, so you should look into local laws and see if you can find a rehabber if you need it. Magpies take a while to learn to fly, and because they're clever birds, they're easy to imprint or tame if you only have one. Then you end up having what amounts to a flying toddler to look after!

[i2iz2Anna]

aww :P