Juvenile Magpie

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Willow
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Joined: 03 Jul 2007, 13:11
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Location: Newport, Gwent, South Wales

Juvenile Magpie

Post by Willow »

I need some advice..
A Juvenile magpie found its way into our garden, god only knows how it wasn't spotted by one of our four cats or the neighbours cats. Its fully feathered and hasnt got the yellow 'beak edges' anymore but not quite ready to fly.
The parent bird was attacking the cats all morning so it must have been around then, we spotted it this afternoon.
We've searched for the nest but cant find it at all. Cant leave it around here as it would definately be found by a cat (or chicken for that matter)
I locked all our cats in & tried popping it in a box on top of the shed for a few hours, the parent birds found it but didnt feed it.
Then one of our cats got out and was on the shed roof about to get into the box, the only reason I noticed was that the adult birds were making a massive racket.
So.. what to feed it on? What to do? I've raised young birds before, but never a magpie.. If I could avoid this I would, I really dont want a semi tame magpie hanging around this area, but cant see I've any choice..
I gave it small worms, and a cat food/egg yolk/softened chicken pellet mix this evening. (it was hungry!)
Help }hairout{
"Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid"

Albert Einstein
Steve the Gas

Re: Juvenile Magpie

Post by Steve the Gas »

My initial thought is .............. no - be nice {warn}

Yep feed it cat food put it up high in a tree, you give me the impression that it is old enough to leave the nest. So it can hop around in trees to get away from the cats. The parent birds may have abandoned it now- today will tell.





Or let the cat have a new toy...................... no joking +pinn+
jannie
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Location: Dulais Valley, South Wales

Re: Juvenile Magpie

Post by jannie »

To be honest I would do everything I could to get the magpie away from my garden...If all else fails get the rspca to pick him up..... If he gets to know your garden as his home then he'll bring his family up there and will hound your pets out....... Sorry but taming a magpie is asking for trouble )dwn:
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battychick_kike
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Location: Near Sevenoaks Kent

Re: Juvenile Magpie

Post by battychick_kike »

The only experience I have, was when I reared a young crow, magpie's are of the same "family" and are too easy to tame. To prevent taming, I used a very long artists paintbrush to feed it with. You must have as little contact with it as possible to keep it from trusting people.

Typically, crows and young magpies do normally leave the nest without being able to properly fly, they tend to hide in the shrubs and hedgerows for protection. Unfortunately, in the urban areas, the hedges are trimmed and or lots of front gardens paved, removing their sanctuary and making them vulnerable.

If you have decided to take on the role of the parents, then feed cat meat using the long brush, the less contact with you, the better for the maggie and for you.

Hope it goes well and the maggie gets strong enough to brave the wilds. )t' Good luck too. :-D

Taz

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