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Unusual magpie catch?


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I'm in the garden just now I seen some thing I never expected. A magpie caught a sparrow with its feet and killed it on the neighbours roof. It pecked at it and took it away. I know they predate nests but not heared of this before. Is this common?

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your bang on with that ? as a kid all I ever did was play out in the countryside and with not having things like the internet every Christmas and birthday I got given books on wildlife.. theres a

I've got a long-tailed tit nest in my man shed. Brilliant architects.

I had swifts nesting in my roof every year for over 30 years until the magpies learned to catch them going in and out and despite my best efforts to shoot them they ate the lot none have returned sinc

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12 minutes ago, tomburras said:

I'm in the garden just now I seen some thing I never expected. A magpie caught a sparrow with its feet and killed it on the neighbours roof. It pecked at it and took it away. I know they predate nests but not heared of this before. Is this common?

I had swifts nesting in my roof every year for over 30 years until the magpies learned to catch them going in and out and despite my best efforts to shoot them they ate the lot none have returned since ?

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21 minutes ago, jukel123 said:

That's a new one on me. Just shows the adaptability and intelligence of covids.

Clever as feck mate they first learned to tap on the roof tiles and the young would pop there heads out thinking mum had returned with dinner they then moved on to grabbing the adults as they popped out after visiting the nest, brilliant but horrible feckers ?

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Too many of them now. Like woodpigeons too, a nest in every other tree. Probably drawn into gardens now that so many people feeding veritable buffets to garden birds. Wouldn’t have lasted 5 minutes in my garden back in the day, they’d have been hit with a barrage of air rifles, gat-guns, peg boards, cattys and all manner of traps. 

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I mentioned it on here, about 4 years ago, can't remember the thread.

Seen a Maggie fly at a group of about a dozen long tailed tits, and grip one as they just were about to make it into some silver birches.

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Just now, paulus said:

Slightly different to the topic But a couple of years ago i watched a Goldfinch collecting spiders web/silk off the top of our fence. I had no idea they did that. 

Lining the cup in the nest mate, longtail tits use a lot of spider web in there nests so they can stretch as the brood grows ?

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Just now, Greyman said:

Lining the cup in the nest mate, longtail tits use a lot of spider web in there nests so they can stretch as the brood grows ?

i knew certain members of the Tit family did it,  but had no idea Goldfinch did it as well. 

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Magpies and grey squirrels both arrived in my neck of the woods about ten years ago. There used to be 3 keeper's on the nearest estate, there's none now. I reckon the keepers saw them off as soon as they arrived. But now there's nothing to stop them multiplying.

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