Magpies - yay or nay?

[perthblue]

With magpie season coming up, I've started to notice them pop up in the news. There was that magpie who was killed in sydney recently after 40 complaints were made about its aggressive behaviour. there were those 2 kids in perth last year who suffered eye injuries and of course the council's response was to cull it.

so what do? I think most of us are happy to accept that there will be areas where we may need to be on high alert in september. But do you think an aggressive magpie should be culled? Do you think our right to walk unimpeded in parks and around our suburbs should trump the natural behaviour of a bird?

Over to you, Big Birdy

 

[Perth gal]

Magpies are straya. Don’t like em, leave.

 

[DroopStDanny]

Love the sound of magpies warbling on a dewy springtime morn.

 

[Gralin]

Love the sound of magpies warbling on a dewy springtime morn.

Yep I like Maggies, they sound very nice, and if they know you they are not an issue.

 

[Plugger35]

I don't mind them now but I hated them when I was a kid and used to get swooped regularly by them but they don't swoop me as an adult. Apparently they swoop kids more than adults as they think kids are predators like dogs or cats while they don't see adults as a threat unless we shoot them.

I don't agree with shooting them but some of them can be right campaigners, there was one that used to swoop me every day when I rode home from school and it still managed to have a few swoops at me no matter how fast I pedaled to get away from it. You'd think it would've realised I wasn't a threat.

 

[edgie]

I remember when my mum got clobbered bad walking across the school oval for parent teacher one day. Took a chunk out of her head.

Because I was an a-hole child I found it hilarious.

 

[Engimal v3]

My dog and I got swooped last week. You can usually deter them by waving your arms.

I would think that 99% of magpie swoops don't even result in contact, let alone injury. Leave them alone.

 

[Plugger35]

My dog and I got swooped last week. You can usually deter them by waving your arms.

I would think that 99% of magpie swoops don't even result in contact, let alone injury. Leave them alone.

I don't recall them ever making contact with me but they got damn close to it and it was still terrifying when you're a kid and don't know what's going on.

 

[Jobe Watson]

Tormented me as a kid. I couldn't ride my bike more than 2m from my house before I'd get swooped. I still get Vietnam flashbacks when I hear the whooshing sound of one of them fly past me.

 

[Shell]

I hate all birds in general.

But wouldnt go out of my way to kill a magpie.
/fri night at the g excepted harhar

 

[Better Loosen Up]

Used to have a "pet" magpie for a short period of time at the holiday house we as a family used to go to when I was a young kid.

The house had an 18 hole putting course that covered the front and back yards. Basically my brother and I would putt our way around the course with this magpie following us around. Occasionally when we would putt, the magpie would run across and knock the ball away as if it thought it was a dog.

Every so often it would follow us inside the house by just walking in behind us. It would just walk around for a while before eventually seeing itself out.

Pretty unusual experience to have a magpie that was friendly, wasn't at all scared of people and wanted to join in our fun.

 

[Bigjobss]

Nuisance animals should be managed appropriately, be it culling or otherwise as human safety comes first and foremost. My wife was swooped without warning this week and was clawed just above her eye, not hard to imagine a young child suffering a serious injury.

I get killing animals is hard for most people to be comfortable with but for me as a fisherman and hunter (both for food) it is a pretty simple question when it comes to safety.

 

[Gameova_]

Tormented me as a kid. I couldn't ride my bike more than 2m from my house before I'd get swooped. I still get Vietnam flashbacks when I hear the whooshing sound of one of them fly past me.

Same. For a period as a kid whenever we went in the backyard we had a very high chance of getting swooped. Got swooped a fair bit.

 

[Plugger35]

Used to have a "pet" magpie for a short period of time at the holiday house we as a family used to go to when I was a young kid.

The house had an 18 hole putting course that covered the front and back yards. Basically my brother and I would putt our way around the course with this magpie following us around. Occasionally when we would putt, the magpie would run across and knock the ball away as if it thought it was a dog.

Every so often it would follow us inside the house by just walking in behind us. It would just walk around for a while before eventually seeing itself out.

Pretty unusual experience to have a magpie that was friendly, wasn't at all scared of people and wanted to join in our fun.

They can be quite friendly when they aren't in swooping season, we had a magpie family that would hang around the house and let you hand feed them.

Unlike most other birds they don't take off when you come near them, they are quite inquisitive so will often come over to check you out.

Now that they don't swoop me anymore I've learned to like them.

 

[ioppolo]

The next door neighbours feed the Magpies, so naturally by 8 or so every other morning (when they aren't nesting) they wait at the back door waiting for their feed. If it's too long they start squawking. Usually half a dozen of them. Leave the Magpies be

 

[Cruyff14]

Hate them, been swooped a few times. Including 3x in about 10 seconds the day before my year 12 English exam.

I am always on edge whenever I see them.

 

[Procrastinator35]

Tonight, a most definitive Yay!

Scats out in straight sets.

 

[DroopStDanny]

Had a magpie catch my attention this morning because, apart from the expected warbling, this one was also mimicking the sounds of a police siren, a generic electronic gadget, and a human whistling. I've never known magpies to do this before; is it common behavior in them?

 

[TubbsFarquhar]

Had a magpie catch my attention this morning because, apart from the expected warbling, this one was also mimicking the sounds of a police siren, a generic electronic gadget, and a human whistling. I've never known magpies to do this before; is it common behavior in them?

Are you sure it wasn't a lyrebird?

 

[Hawk Dork]

or a Butcherbird

 

[DroopStDanny]

Are you sure it wasn't a lyrebird?

Yes.

or a Butcherbird

Quite sure.



This bugger makes the exact same police siren sound.

 

[Lebbo73]

Yay but Nay during breeding season.