Magpies

[My Angel Pie]

our garden has been overrun by pairs of Magpies this year, there are about 8 of them that scare off all the lovely small birds, they are a nuisance and i can hear the distress calls of other birds that have nested in the trees, i know they raid other birds nests which is nature in itself, but wish they would go away - any ideas????

[Ethel]

You can lawfully buy an air rifle and shoot them in your own garden. You don't need a licence.

There is no other way. Baiting and trapping is likely to affect other birds.

[paddywak]

check this http://www.essexwt.org.uk/leaflets/magpies.htm #top quite a long article but interesting, especially the bit on how to help song birds in your garden

[RATTER15]

You can use a Larsen trap to trap magpie it may also trap rooks or crows but not likely in your garden. They catch them live but not the easiest trap to use as you need to place a live magpie in the trap to start. This is legal by the way!!

I would rather they were shot by an experienced person myself!!

[burnhal]

Shooting in your own garden can leave you open to prosecution- if you are surrounded by other gardens can you guarantee that the pellets that miss will not carry over onto someone elses property? Also can you guarantee a clean kill and not have a wounded bird trailing all over neighbouring gardens.
I am afraid magpies are doing what they are meant to do. So why are they there? If you didnt have a successful garden with plenty of songbirds you wouldnt be bugged by magpies. So if you kill a few what will happen? You will have a vacent territory that will quickly be occupied by more magpies.
So why are magpies on the increase- the the rate of increase is slowing down? Partly less persecution from gamekeepers but also a lot of it is our own fault!! We put out lots of easily accessible food- its not just the songbirds that are attracted!! And consider this- sparrowhawks are on the increase and they feed almost exclusively on small birds. I often get them in my garden... so if one starts taking your songbirds...will you feel privelidged or reach for an air-rifle (totally illegal but in principal??)