Magpies – Fact or Fiction?

People also ask if magpies recognize humans?

A key reason why friendships with magpies are possible is that we now know that magpies are able to recognize and remember individual human faces for many years. They can learn which nearby humans do not constitute a risk. They will remember someone who was good to them; equally, they remember negative encounters.

theconversation.com

Sometimes Australian Magpies will swoop on someone as in this video clip and tragically can cause injuries:

Why Do Magpies Swoop?

Only 12% of male magpies are aggressive. During nesting season, the male magpie is simply doing his job defending its eggs and chicks, which are in the nest for about six to eight weeks between July and November in Australia.

Female magpies don’t swoop at all. Magpies swooping usually stops once the young birds have fledged and left the nest.

Having said that, if you get to know your local magpies, they probably won’t swoop you at all, as they recognize that you aren’t a threat to their nest.

Since moving to the Home by the Sea, I have had a Magpie family who nests near our house. Our street is their territory.

They frequently pop in with their young ones to check to see if I have some titbits for them. One of the elder birds often swoops in to reprimand the young ones for socialising with me. His actions are most likely altruistic. He prefers the kids to be independent and find worms for themselves rather than become dependent on human handouts. Who can blame him? Such a sensible chap!

Should I be feeding them at all? If so what?

Might it encourage them to swoop in nesting season?

I decided to find out.

The website- Magpie Alert – comes complete with an interactive map for cyclists to beware of popular swooping sites.

Cyclists seem particularly vulnerable to swooping attacks.

How do you get a magpie to trust you?

Taking a small morsel of meat or keeping your distance from a magpie nest may convey the message to a nervous magpie that you pose no threat. They may even become a ‘friend,’ as one young magpie did, inviting himself right into my kitchen!

Unfortunately, that was stretching the friendship a tad too far even for a bird-lover like me, so I had to ghost him/her for a while. We became friends again, but the addition of a lively puppy to the house meant this clever magpie now has a hunting dog to contend with and wisely he and his family now only greet me in the front yard – somewhere the Schnauzer has no access to.

What Can You Feed Magpies?

Lifehacker.com.au recommends feeding Magpies natural alternatives if you want to make friends with your local Magpies. This is much better for their tummies than chunks of bread or processed meat.

Rummage around in your garden; dig up some worms, turn over rocks, bricks, firewood logs, strip bark from trees, and you most likely will find some tasty tucker for the magpies.

Lifehacker.com.au

The Magpieaholic warns us not to feed Magpies raw meat, cheese and bread and exotic animal vet, Deborah Monks said raw meat and mince, although popular, did the most damage to magpie health.

What does it mean when a Magpie visits you?

Magpies are highly intelligent and can make interesting pets.

Animal Expert Dr Kaplan claims that once a magpie gets to know you and judges you to be a nice person, you will have earned a friend for life. “They will form very long friendships, like dogs,” she said. “They will introduce their young, [to you] and they will be the most charming birds. My Magpie Mate certainly confirmed this theory. She returns with his young introducing me to them every year.

Magpies have excellent memories. They can remember a face for up to five years.

Deterring Magpies. How to Scare Magpies?

I’d rather make friends with them but if you have a rogue, aggressive Magpie that terrorises you, it is possible to use something shiny or metallic to scare them away.

Hang CDs, metallic balloons, aluminium pie pans, and/or half-full plastic bottles 3 feet above the grass near any plants that the magpies are disturbing.

How do Magpies Communicate?

Magpies sing to reinforce their claim on their territory, mostly at dawn and dusk. But while we are all familiar with the magpie’s melodious carolling, we are perhaps less familiar with their other calls. Magpies use many different calls, including grunting noises, to communicate. www.environment.sa.gov.au

Above all, they are considered a positive omen of good luck and are known as “birds of joy.”