Magpies

[Right-arm fast]

what’s the best method of catching the first magpie to go in a Larson trap?

 

[Doing it for the kids]

Make a nest and put some eggs in there.

ive had a nightmare this year, everything seems to be staying in respecting the lock down, neighbours agree, caught a crow and a magpie so far, normally caught 10 of each by now!

 

[Frank-the-Wool]

Get one from a local game keeper or farmer who is already catching them.
Not sure where you are but we are catching plenty at the moment and you can have a Crow and a Magpie if you come and pick it up!

 

[milkloss]

Shoot a rabbit, half gut it and leave in the trap with the guts trailing out, works every time.

 

[HolzKopf]

Make a nest and put some eggs in there.

Agree, bit of straw or hay, a few upside down eggshells and the odd bit of meat on the break perches.

 

[Grandad Pig]

Why bother? Can someone explain please? I know magpies take chicks from nests but why would farmers want to catch them? Serious question.

 

[milkloss]

Why bother? Can someone explain please? I know magpies take chicks from nests but why would farmers want to catch them? Serious question.

You answered it yourself... they take chicks as well as the eggs. They will clear out a whole hedgerow of nesting birds in an afternoon..... well I imagine they could anyway.

 

[Blaithin]

Must not have that many of you aren’t catching them.

Put kibble in a magpie trap once. Had over 20 in it in half an hour!! So many they were stuck on the bottom and found their way out?‍

 

[TripleSix]

There is a Facebook group called The Corvid Exchange.
Lets you get callbirds off people.

Not ideal during lockdown though.

 

[Grandad Pig]

You answered it yourself... they take chicks as well as the eggs. They will clear out a whole hedgerow of nesting birds in an afternoon..... well I imagine they could anyway.

Seriously? So trapping magpies is a conservation measure. Thanks.

 

[yellowbelly]

Seriously? So trapping magpies is a conservation measure. Thanks.

It certainly is.
Have you never seen two of the barstewards work their way down a hedgerow cleaning out every nest that they come to?

 

[Grandad Pig]

No, to be honest. But watched a starling take a new hatched sparrow chick from a hedge once.

a lot goes on in a hedgerow?

Cheers?

 

[Doing it for the kids]

No, to be honest. But watched a starling take a new hatched sparrow chick from a hedge once.

a lot goes on in a hedgerow?

Cheers?

so Ive had 2 traps down for a month, started early due to child care over CV. Every year all the local farmers do their bit, we share call birds, each farm probably catches 10 magpies and 10 crows A season. The traps work by territory envision, cot ids have their turf and defend it from others. It’s very effective and humane.

various surveys have been done to show the decimation corvids can do, when we all do our bit it helps all wildlife.

if the gov paid £1 per dead corridor (like they used to with squirrels) I’d wager a hefty bet that wildlife numbers would dramatically improve In the UK.

Sally most folk have no idea of such things, it’s the way it seems to be these days.

 

[Jameshenry]

Why bother? Can someone explain please? I know magpies take chicks from nests but why would farmers want to catch them? Serious question.

Magpies will peck out the eyes of ewes that have got stuck on there backs, also they can take out the tongues of lambs that are being born

 

[Longlowdog]

The Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust recently released a paper on their studies concerning magpie predation of smaller birds and found they have a significant impact on numbers. An interesting observation in the paper was that nesting magpies knew their territories well and did a significantly better job of hunting for birds nests and chicks than the incomers after a territorial pair were removed. Presumably (my extrapolation) territorial magpies hold a knowledge of previous sites and return to the larder each year. Over a couple of years they effectively remove the population of smaller birds from that area leaving only incoming birds to fill the void if there are any to fill it.
Another snippet gleaned from the paper was that after magpies, rats were another significant predator of birds nests so rodent control is not only of value to the farmer but the wider environment.

 

[Dry Rot]

if the gov paid £1 per dead corridor (like they used to with squirrels) I’d wager a hefty bet that wildlife numbers would dramatically improve In the UK.

They stopped that because some were breeding them! ?

If crows/magpies are shy of the trap, scatter a few eggs around with some on and in the trap. Once they get addicted and confident, you'll catch them.

Magpies are rare this far north. There used to be a couple of pairs a few years ago but they seem to have disappeared. Too cold for 'em.

 

[JACK F]

Why bother? Can someone explain please? I know magpies take chicks from nests but why would farmers want to catch them? Serious question.

Although our main reason we used to trap them was for nesting game birds, the difference in the number of song birds we got in the woods after the first year of trapping was incredible. Caught about 60 in the first year and dwindled down to around 20 per year. Sadly had to give up as too many people about nowadays and despite traps being located well away from any footpaths I just was just getting them all smashed up each year.

 

[yellowbelly]

Sadly had to give up as too many people about nowadays and despite traps being located well away from any footpaths I just was just getting them all smashed up each year.

That's a problem here too. If they don't smash the trap they let the call bird out
Taken to clipping their wings now, so there's a chance to catch them again.

 

[Longlowdog]

The new generation of discreet trail cameras that send images to your phone are brilliant for catching scum interfering with traps etc. Just make sure you write 'smile for the camera' on the top of the trap so you don't fall foul of any of the dubious laws on photographing folk without consent. Write it on even if you don't have a camera, it takes away the fuzzy warm feeling the scum get when they think their cowardly actions are going unobserved.

 

[Doing it for the kids]

The new generation of discreet trail cameras that send images to your phone are brilliant for catching scum interfering with traps etc. Just make sure you write 'smile for the camera' on the top of the trap so you don't fall foul of any of the dubious laws on photographing folk without consent. Write it on even if you don't have a camera, it takes away the fuzzy warm feeling the scum get when they think their cowardly actions are going unobserved.

any recommendations please?

been toying with one for a while, want to see if our barn owl box is let out or vacant!