Magpie
(Pica pica)
As an omnivorous, voracious scavenger, the Magpie is firmly within the curious realm of what one could call the canon of contentious garden birds; a marmite, if you like, of love and hate, similar to the Jay, and anything but, for example, the gentle, loveable Long-tailed tit. But there are always two sides to the coin: yes, Magpies have been accused of stealing and consuming the eggs of innocent garden birds, but they have also been seen as incredibly adept at warding off similarly dangerous pests.
Over the past two decades and beyond, Magpies have shot up in number across the UK, and are now among the most commonly observed garden birds in the UK. But along with this rapid increase in population has arisen a most abundant form of hatred among people, and this is, apparently, put down mainly to their “cheeky behaviour”. This, however, can’t be the whole truth, and one author, Steve Roud, believes it could be related to the deep superstitions held in traditional British folklore, which links the Magpie to the devil. Despite this, they are often thrown in with crows as the ultimate reflection of evil in physical form: movies like The Omen do not help their case. In contrast to this, the Magpie is, in fact, the national bird of Korea, adored by many as being the harbinger of good fortune.
And of course black has traditionally been related to evil, dark spirits and wrongdoing, whereas white is angelic, holy and good: the Magpie is somewhat enigmatic in that it encompasses both these contrasting neutrals. Perhaps, as a consequence of such ambiguity, there is increased suspicion, and less trust.
But is this somewhat despised bird really so bad? Does it deserve, as the BBC have described it, “the bird people most love to hate?” Let’s take a deeper look at the Magpie, and you can decide for yourselves.
General characteristics
Magpies are not afraid of stepping out into open garden spaces, often making a bit of a mess of the lawn, and their almost arrogant, forthright method of strolling around is easily misunderstood. But look closely and you’ll notice something interesting; they are an incredibly beautiful bird. The clear black upper parts, whose attractive sheen is really quite striking, contrast well with the white breast to complete an evenly distributed picture of grace; and the tail, unbeknownst to many, presents a gradated green gloss, observable only from certain angles.
Magpies are resident all year round in most parts of Britain, apart from northern extremities of Scotland (Highlands); the total recorded breeding population has been as high as 600,000 (RSPB). Their breeding takes place in early April and it is common for just 1 clutch to be produced, containing between 5 to 8 eggs. The time it takes for Magpies to fully fledge can be anywhere between 22 and 28 days in total.
What does “Magpie” mean?
Pica is the classical Latin name for Magpie, although originally the collective name for Magpies was, simply, “pies”, meaning “pointed”. This was, most likely, in reference to the tail or beak. In a slightly unfair twist, the prefix of -pie, “Mag”, is derived from the name Margaret, used to describe women in general in the 16th century. Interestingly, because some considered the pie’s call to be similar to that of a chattering woman, the name Margaret and pie came together to form the modern term “Magpie”.
*See Wikipedia entry for more information into the Magpie’s etymological origins
What do they eat
Magpies are probably the least fussy eaters of all garden birds: kitchen scraps, common bird food, entire rodents, insects, nestlings, eggs and fruit are among some of the food you may observe them consuming in your gardens. They have even been observed preying on rabbits, animals that are larger than themselves. With Magpies being of sound and intelligent mind, they have a tendency to hoard food for later, a form of behaviour common among the related Jay.
News has been made of Magpies eating the eggs and nestlings of smaller songbirds, but much of this is, in fact, a perfectly normal function in nature, as harrowing as it is to see. According to the RSPB, one study found that songbird numbers were no different in places where there were many Magpies from where there were few.
“Availability of food and suitable nesting sites are probably the main factors limiting songbird populations,” RSPB.
Buy food for magpies? Madness.
Busy family of Magpies share the garden with a Roe Deer visitor, this morning they were grooming her, amazing!
I have seen magpies chasing off a Sparrowhawk from the garden and also pecking at the tails of both a rabbit and a grey squirrel.
“Magpie” is also the name given to the black scoring ring on an otherwise white target on full bore rifle targets, as we all know black and white being the Magpies beautiful colours…..
This year I have seen in my garden Magpies kill two young fledged starlings despite the parent birds trying to protect them. I have also witnessed them trying to attack other garden birds from Gold finches to Collar Doves . Having lived in the same house for some sixty years Magpies were once an occasional visitor but in recent years half a dozen a day is not uncommon. A few years ago I heard a cacophony down the garden one morning and counted 26 Magpies on the side of a Hawthorn tree in my garden that I could see and there was obviously also a large number on the other side.
As a defence against the Magpies I have encouraged “Joe Crow” and his mates who attack and chase them off a joy to watch especially the Crows and their aeronautic flying abilities and speed.
Frankly I believe Magpies since they were protected have been the main cause of the decline in many species of garden birds.
Personally I hate magpies. I have witnessed them mobbing birds off their nests and eating eggs and fledglings many times. I recently chased six magpies away who were attacking a baby rabbit. They were surrounding it and pecking at it. Despite what studies say I do believe magpies are a threat to songbirds. I always chase them away fro the garden when I see them. They are not welcome.
I wonder if they eat their own alive. I’ve just chased 3 out of the garden with a few choice words. Two were ganging up on a third who was on the ground on his back and losing the fight. Not having that nonsense in MY garden!!
Are you a vegan? By your answer I truly hope you are as most human beings eat baby animals and unfortunately that seems to be fully accepted
Great point! We feel so sorry when animals attack/eat each other, especially when the victim is defenseless, but we have no problem going to the store and buying lamb or veal.
I too was worried about Magpies in the garden as I have so many tiny birds feeding. However, I found a juvenile Magpie in my street. He was terrified and in real danger from the many cats around here so I took him up to the wild part of my garden. He has lived here for two years now, he feeds with the other birds and protects the garden. His tail feathers are crimped and this makes him highly recognisable. He has changed my attitude towards magpies and I’m sorry I was so prejudiced.
I love Magpies, especially in flight. They are beautiful and actually eat from the bird feeders. I did wonder where the mice, which often turn up at the wildlife pond disappeared to.
The Magpie is a bird with an almost mystical history. Everyone knows how they steal valuables, how Rossini wrote music about them. There is even a “Gypsy” wish you should make when you sight the bird…”Good morning Mr Magpie, I hope your family is well”. As I said a mystical bird but undeniable a very beautiful one. Feed them, love them and cherish their individualism.
We get magpies in our garden – the regular pair developed into a family group of 5 back in the late spring. Recently we are regularly getting 7 or 8. They are beautiful birds but it is some of their more annoying activities that are a real pain: trying (& sometimes succeeding) in removing the metal (shiny!) pegs holding down the obelisk in the border; removing plant labels – I have no idea where some bulbs are now!; and pulling off colchicum petals. Still, at least they have more brains than wood pigeons!
Very interesting and informative as usual.
I have never considered the magpie to be a religious bird however.
Preying I can understand, but not praying.
I once threw some leftover chips on the lawn and later watched a magpie burying them in my flower bed.
Their morning ‘chatter’ is never welcome!!
I LOVE WATCHING MAGPIES AS I DO ALL BIRDS,THEY ARE QUITE AMUSING WITH THE WAY THEY GO ABOUT THEIR DAY,VERY RELAXING.
I have 2 pairs of Magpies visiting my garden and they are great lookouts. They sit on the roof and warn other small birds of danger from approaching cats, foxes and birds of prey.
They are very clever and acrobatic at getting into small feeders, sometimes hanging upside down. They eat any scraps that I’ve put out.
My resident Blackbird, being very territorial, chases them out of the garden and once managed to pluck a feather from the magpie’s tail.
There is a saying about seeing Magpies:
1 for Sorrow
2 for Joy
3 for a Girl and
4 for a Boy!
I’m in the process of filming a pair of nest building magpies in my garden. It’s interesting to see how they chase away ring collared doves and squirrels who approach anywhere near their nest. However, they’re only around from early morning to midday, then disappear. Any idea why they never seem to be around in the afternoon and evening? Regarding their nest, I’m sure it’s last years crows nest they’ve commandeered, as for the first time we had crows in our garden?
Hello, I came across this post and article while trying to find the same answer. A pair are building their nest in a 40′ tall tree at the foot of our garden, and have been for the last 3 weeks, but only in the morning. I’m really not a fan of them as they hunt the blackbird nests for eggs and fledglings and other songbirds, however I appreciate that truly is nature and they will have their own young to feed, maybe 6 or 8 of them. I love the fact that they pair for life, they’re beautiful and striking to watch and are dedicated parents so maybe this year they’ll change my opinion.
I’ve been watching a pair build a nest in the holly tree that is about 20 feet from my kitchen window. I have wondered why they seem to be inactive in the afternoons as well.
always thought pied ment black and Wight. and the less magpies the more songbirds in your garden I suppose it depends on what you want. if you just want black and Wight scavengers hopping about then that’s what you’ve got.
I don’t understand why anybody has a problem with magpies.
As you say above: “Magpies have been accused of stealing and consuming the eggs of innocent garden birds. ”
“Accused”? “Stealing”? We have a bad habit of projecting human ideals onto other animals.
It is worth taking on board that we are also a product of nature and do infinitely more damage to our fellow creatures than any other species. What makes us worse is that we are doing it deliberately.
Nature is an ongoing struggle, one that has been fought for billions of years. As newcomers, we have no business either judging or interfering in the activities of other animals.
Well said! They are unjustly hated.
We have nesting magpies in our garden and i hated them. Then i began to slowly began to love there morning raucous chatter.
I enjoyed there daily territory wars with the blackbirds.
Today strong wind however have caused there nest to come tumbling down and is sitting in the middle of our garden.
No baby magpies to be seen.
But Mr Fox is looking pretty jaunty.
I have five young magpies in the garden. They appear to be playing chase around the peartree. Do they actually play??
From what I’ve observed, Magpies, especially the juveniles, spend a lot of their days in play. Play being how we learn, and ‘Pies’ being among the most intelligent of all animals, it makes sense they have a lot to learn and that play is how they do that. I also suspect they have a sense of humor.
We have magpies visiting our garden every day and have done for many years. this morning we had 2 parents and 6 young fledglings. In addition the amount of songbirds and garden birds is growing every year so I don’t know why people think other bird populations decrease because of magpies. We regularly have 13 different species in our little garden every day. Bird decline is due to humans so stop blaming the pies and do some conservation.
I have a magpie with an injured wing living in my garden. He/she seems to be doing quite well and has routes planned out for getting around, jumping onto the furniture then the obelisks to get to the wall. Living in either the apple tree or the orange blossom. I would like to know what the best food is to help. I have been putting out dried mealworms, suet balls and sunflower hearts but am at a loss as to whether this is enough to keep him healthy. I have always loved magpies and would like to keep this one as well fed as possible. Any ideas?
At 8.00am this morning, the gentle birdsong was suddenly interrupted and overwhelmed by a frenzy of magpies – literally hundreds of them flying in large groups of 20 or more from tree to tree, shrieking raucously… I have never seen so many in one area before – it was like a mob gone crazy! And then, in a matter of minutes, all calm again and no visual or aural evidence that such a big group was ever there. Is this common?
2.20p.m. September 6th I have just been watching 9 magpies on a long roof top for over 15 minutes. We always have one or two walking round the large lawn. Would they be a family – the young staying near the parents?
I once reared an injured magpie chick with some friends when i was a child and have had a fondness for them ever since.. they do raid nests, sometimes attack larger animals and due to being omniverous obviously have eating habits similar to humans but at least as a wild bird, they are a lot more honest in the way they eat… after all they dont have supermarkets and such to sanitise what and how they strive to exist
I took an interest in Magpies this year as there was a nest in our tree. There were five babies and it was amazing watching them grow. Now they are all in our yard with another family from a tree next door. They are amazing smart birds. I also have 6 crows that visit our yard and many different song birds as well as two large Ravens. They all tend to get along. There is a hawk that has shown up several times and tKen after the magpies and crows. The magpies and crows get along so well that they work together to put the run on the hawk. They chase him into a tree and all take after him when he tries to come out of the tree. They keep him there for about a half hour and then He finally leaves And the crows and magpies go back to playing. I have never seen them bother any of the song birds in my yard.
Update – I am still feeding my injured Magpie he/she (we call her Maggie) has become fast with her hopping and has become adept at climbing. She has her routes and is often seen at the top of high trees jumping from branch to branch. She has her mate (known by us as Magnus) with her but they are never down feeding at the same time. I am getting through bags of dried mealworms and she has been seen taking whole fat balls away to eat under the bushes. She prefers it if the food is put into a planter that is about 18″ off the ground rather than on the ground itself so she now has her own planter filled to the top with soil for her food – if the blackbirds don’t get there first. She must watch me put the food out 3 times a day because she is there within about 5 mins. She has also been seen taking the crab apples off the tree and hopping away with them.
The only worry we have is that she is losing feathers around her neck and looking a bit battered. Her wing looks no worse from the initial damage but flying is out of the question. We plan on feed her for as long as necessary it is a shame she won’t eat the bird seed as as the mealworms are quite expensive but we love to see her and are very protective of her.
I would love to know if there is anything else I could put into her diet to vary it.
We also have a magpie named Maggie in our courtyard. She is living in a large conifer and like yours she has her routs and ways of getting to where she wants to be . She is very fat as most of us residents are putting out lots of different types of food for her . I watch her every day . She likes to sit out on a branch of her “home “ and just watch . I spite of her damaged wing she seems quite happy and contented . I hope she states .
I found a little magpie in our back garden around 5 month ago who had fallen out of his nest. He lives with us now and has his own bedroom, cage and play area. He spends his days playing out with his family in the back garden and comes in at night for sleep. :P
Morning everyone. I have a magpie on my front lawn every day and it’s making a mess of my lawn. Could you tell me how to stop the magpie from doing it. It doesn’t seem to be pulling the worms out. It’s like it’s diggging I the lawn and tossing it about. My lawn is really mess
Rick, what a great picture. I just wish our injured magpie would show us a bit more trust. We are still feeding her and as she hops around the high wall to get to her feeding spot she does now stop to look in window. We are not sure if this is to check where we are so we don’t surprise her or if it is to tell us that she has arrived and is her food out, on her way back she goes by so fast she is easy to miss.
Irene why don’t you try putting a dish of bird food on a path by the side of the lawn to distract the magpie from your lawn. Mine loves suet pellets and mealworms.
It has now been 5 days since we have seen our injured magpie Maggie. We fear the worst as in the garden we have seen her partner and another magpie that looks younger and smaller. We do miss her hopping along the wall stopping to look in the window.
Yesterday we had a Sparrowhawk in the garden and we wonder if this is how she met her end or possibly a cat.
We are happy that we kept her going for as long as we did.
Well as I type this now having not been seen for a month Maggie is back in the garden. She has grown new feathers and is looking very well. As soon as I saw her i took out her favourite food and she has not left the garden. Great early Christmas present, we had missed her so much.
Like you Deborah, I had a baby Mr P unable to fly, no tail, baldy patches everywhere frequent my garden late Autumn 2020. He was bullied by anything and everything, so set a makeshift lean-to against my wall with lots of pots all around my garden allowing him running protection. My neighbour and I set up our garden furniture either side of our 6foot fence to allow him access to our fence-tops. Fed him regularly in various pots to take him off the ground, but come December 2020, he disappeared and I feared the worst. However, lo and behold he appeared again mid January with a lovely tail, proper feathers with no down and sat on the fence between our “ladder” mockup. He has been coming every day, bringing with him his family. He sits on the fence until I see him, doesn’t flinch and awaits me putting out his food no more than a few feet from where he sits. Seems to trust me and I am completely hooked! I wonder if you are a neighbour Deborah and your Maggie, my Mr P are one of the same. he he.
Aww this is lovely to read.
We are in Cornwall,watching a magpie in our neighbours pine tree this morning pulling at twigs, breaking off little bits until finally flying off with a longer twig.. Are they making nests now?
I have a pair of magpies living in my garden, and often see them about the place, almost always perching in the same tree or walking about together on the lawn and in the neighbouring field. They come to the bird feeder, as do many smaller songbirds (which are thriving despite the magpies’ presence). Part of me wants to put out better food for the magpies and try to befriend them, as they are wonderful intelligent birds full of character, but unfortunately my cat is a voracious eater of the local wildlife during the summer months, and I’d be afraid of doing anything that might lower their wariness around my house. The cat sometimes catches jackdaws, and even brought in a bird of prey once, but so far the magpies have escaped his clutches.
We successfully hand-reared a magpie nestling (Oscar) who fell out of a nest in a tall tree in our garden.
We enjoyed the past 9 months of him (or her) living first in the house, then indoors & outdoors and eventually 100% outdoors (by design) but always very much part of the family always sitting on or bouncing around the heads, shoulders, arms, knees and any other body parts of any family member who is around.
The scourge of the local kestrel who has come off second best a few times and eventually decide to relocate last summer.
Happy to spend time with you whether dozing on your shoulder or ‘helping out’ in the garden.
Smart, friendly, cheeky, naughty and always ready to fight his corner and make his nutritional or social needs apparent with the help of a sharp beak if necessary ;)
Oscar found a mate and recently left us to start the next phase of his life but the privilege of being able to learn so much about something you knew almost nothing about a year ago cannot be overstated.
I love magpies, beautiful birds. I’ve never seen them bother other birds in my garden or at the feeder. The magpies come, take a huge chunk of suet and fly off with it. I love their chatter and they are always welcome in my garden.
For several weeks now we are aware of a magpie ‘mimicking a woodpecker’ tapping on most of the windows in our house. Most annoyingly from just after 6 am on our bedroom window or our en suite bathroom. The windows have various treatments and internal coverings. For example, Opaque without a blind. Dark shutters. Clear without curtains/blinds. Our garden is adjacent to grazed fields and we seem to have a number of magpies. We think this is just one individual. Any ideas to prevent this habit would be most welcome
Our biggest problem with magpies is that they continually bring horrid pieces of bread into our back yard to dunk in our bird bath making the water an instantly disgusting soupy mess. This morning they brought a piece of dog food to dunk. We always chase them away and today having read up about “eyes” and shiny objects to deter them I made a rotating aluminium face with two large eyes and placed it beside the bird bath – a magpie has just flown down and dunked bread while looking at the scarer…
Magpies are one of the few birds that are self aware. Very intelligent, clever, and watching them move through the trees is like a little bit of “Africa” in your garden. They are also very beautiful. Live and let live. GOD is in charge.
I too have a magpie with an injured wing. He has been around since January and I have tried to place food where he can get it but where the other birds don’t really go. I watched him progress to being able to glide from height, his only problem is that he can’t get enough lift from the ground to fly away, and so hops up through the shrubs, onto the fence and then into the trees.
It seems to me that once fledged, the young magpies stay around my garden but I very rarely see the adults now? They are fascinating playful birds who like to tease my dogs which is very entertaining to watch. I have never seen them attack other birds, in fact the pigeons are the ones who chase the magpies away from food!
Dan Herlihy You are so lucky to have experienced this with a magpie, how wonderful it must have been.
We have woodpidgeons nesting at the bottom of the back garden. Watching them ‘kiss’ and create their seemingly sparce nest was interesting. Thinking that it was probably a location test exercise, we never believed they’d occupy the nest. Then, they did. It’s been a few weeks and we can even time the parents shifts! She comes in around 7-7.30 pm and the male comes to take over around 10am. They only leave the nest unprotected for the 30 seconds it takes them to swap places.
This evening, three magpies flew in and crowded around the female. I got hyper protective but didn’t want to disturb the nesting female. I simply stood under the tree, directly under the nest, and eye-balled the bullying magpies. They flew off relatively quickly. Once gone, I walked away from the tree and sat on the patio. The female has been watching me ever since, yet after an hour finally moved around on the nest and got comfy for the evening. I believe she knows I won’t hurt her home and chicks.
I say chicks, because the past three days both male and female are regularly ‘dipping their heads’ in the nest. Is that a sign of feeding chicks? Or, are they just moving the eggs? Anyway, I feel very protective of this loving pair.
That said, we have a magpie that ‘knocks’ on our front windows on a regular basis. He/She is quite comical yet appears very clever because we think his/her reflection is indicating there is a magpie shut inside? Who knows? This magpie has battered head feathers, not the pure black sheen of others. When the knocking stopped for a few months, I thought he/she’d met her end. Thankfully, this beautiful bird is back pecking at our front windows again.
I’ve read about magpies bullying nesting birds to make them leave their nests unprotected, hence my presence to ‘eye-ball’ the magpies away (they really don’t like humans staring at them!) Yet, I have a fondness for these intelligent birds too (I hope that doesn’t change…. it certainly would if I witness any carnage at a magpie gangs doing). Then again, they may not have been bullying, and been simply inquisitive, but I suspect they were looking to scare the woodpigeon from her nest.
Nature is beautiful but can also be horrifying… much like human existence/survival. I feel like a hypocrite because I do eat white meat a few times a week, at least organically raised and not infant animals. I just hope I don’t witness carnage in my garden. Again, I feel like a hypocrite and now feel guilty about eating prawns yesterday!
I’ve loved having a leucistic magpie and her mate in our garden for about 7 years. They bring their youngsters in, but over they’re independent, we don’t see them in three garden again. They’re fascinating birds, with their caching habits, even though it ruins the lawn!