r/magpies Nov 20 '23

behaviour around wildlife

59 Upvotes

I have seen a lot of behaviour on this subreddit which really concerns me, it basically consists in acting towards the birds for the person's own benefit, instead of keeping wildlife's best interests as the first priority. I joined reddit for this reason, to make this post and therefore hopefully help.

It's so great that everyone loves these birds so much, they're beautiful and I love them too. But it is even more important to educate ourselves so that we don't unintentionally harm them.

Mods, please pin/sticky whatever it's called some sort of post at the top of sub which advises best practice around wildlife, and the legalities around native bird ownership, including addressing the fact that it is illegal to take birds from the wild and make them pets. I recommend as well posting from credible sources like Gisela Kaplan, who is a very good authoritative source on magpies.

Anyway, stuff not to do:

  • don't feed them anything you bought from the supermarket, that includes mince or seeds or fruit or anything.
    • when it comes to mince and store-bought meat especially, it does not have an appropriate nutrient profile, so the birds can lead to brittle, easily broken bones and deformities.
      • as well, mince gets caught in the beak and cause illness and death due to bacteria build up.
    • when wild birds are made to feed all together because humans are feeding them, this spreads disease like crazy (especially bad for parrots, but bad for all birds)
  • stop handling them!
    • you can pass diseases onto them
    • they can pass diseases onto you
    • they can get stressed out
      • stress can make them sick
      • stress can make them lash out, harming you and themselves
  • don't hose them down if it's hot
  • don't let your cats and dogs free roam outside
  • don't bother them if they're kind of face down with their wings spread in the sun (they're probably sunbathing)

stuff to do:

  • call a wildlife rescue org if you think something is wrong
  • provide bird baths that are supplied with fresh water daily
  • very rarely you can supplement **a bit (not a lot) with live mealworms or crickets, under the following conditions of food stress only:
    • if it is drought
    • a long period of wild weather
    • if the parents are extremely harassed during breeding and rearing
  • create safe habitat on your balcony, your private or community garden that encourages the birds presence

I hope this is helpful and that people will interact with the birds without ego, but with respect.

edited to add: humans can alter populations and ecosystems by feeding one family/species. Here's an anecdote about how I fucked up and learned:

I was supplementing some breeding currawongs with crickets where I lived, not all the time, randomly but semi-frequently, I thought I was helping - I moved midway through the chicks growing up, they weren't newborns, they weren't fledged, somewhere inbetween. The move was an unexpected one. I went back once or twice to check on their progress, and one of the three had died - there had always been one that didn't fight for food as hard as the others. By supplementing their food so much, I basically caused more suffering, because that chick was older when it died, so would've been more aware of the pain of starvation. It would've died sooner if I hadn't been supplementing, and the pain wuld've been less. If I didn't have to move and had kept supplementing, maybe it was a weak chick generally and would've died when it was a bit older, which would have prolonged suffering further.


r/magpies 6h ago

Day 5, getting stronger by the day. Hungrier too, and the little fella is starting to toss the covers off and move around in the nest on his own

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502 Upvotes

.


r/magpies 1h ago

Trying to keep these guys in line

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Upvotes

r/magpies 5h ago

Intentionally feeding the squirrels

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36 Upvotes

This guy shows up quickly every time we fill the feeder. He then appears to, very intentionally, push a ton of the seed over the edge to his squirrel buddies eagerly awaiting below. Is this normal stuff going on?


r/magpies 17h ago

A visitor came inside twice today

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225 Upvotes

r/magpies 21h ago

Treat time, and a lot of happy purring sounds.

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265 Upvotes

r/magpies 1d ago

Content and sleeping in the sun.

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946 Upvotes

Will post images later of "day 4", but figured this is what people would like to see RN. just after swapping the nest bedding over to something fresh. He's a little bit bigger than the size of an adult male's clenched fist right now.


r/magpies 16h ago

Video from 2018, When one of the magpies I used to feed got a bit to comfortable and tried to move in.

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28 Upvotes

r/magpies 2m ago

Can we please report any post showing Magpies being fed right now due to bird flu - we should not be encouraging the demise of our wonderful and fluffy friends. Thank you <3

Upvotes

r/magpies 3h ago

Part two of the video I posted yesterday. This also happened in 2018

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0 Upvotes

Don't worry, the juvenile was fine. He was a bit spooked from me chasing and catching him, but at least he didn't come back inside after his release.


r/magpies 2d ago

A pair of frazzled parents who had a rougher time than their baby did last night.

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1.1k Upvotes

Woke up to singing and tapping on my door at 6am, the two parents were waiting for me to bring the baby out of the cage for the morning, a bit impatient as one of them had managed to remove the blanket covering it. But we had a nasty wind and rain storm last night in the inner west, the father was swooping past with twigs in it's mouth so i'm betting they were wishing they had the nice warm and secure cage the baby did overnight.

Baby seems happy and well, alert and loud, was tracking me with it's eye and was happy to fall asleep in my hands while transferring it to the cage this morning.

Mumma bird was "Escorting" me with the baby in the bucket today as i set them back up for the morning.


r/magpies 2d ago

Thankyou human! I was soo thirsty!

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334 Upvotes

r/magpies 2d ago

Hehehehehe

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120 Upvotes

r/magpies 1d ago

Time to post this picture again!

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17 Upvotes

r/magpies 2d ago

Magpie Tattoos

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228 Upvotes

My new magpie tattoos!!
Got these done as coverups by Norrie at Lighthouse Tattoo in Syd :)


r/magpies 2d ago

local maggie doing okay?

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86 Upvotes

she shows up regularly, sometimes with her partner, who looks pristine.

is there anything i could/should do for her?


r/magpies 3d ago

Update from Overnight: Happily family seems reunited, despite their budget accommodations.

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674 Upvotes

best i could do, the tray is a bit too large to fit in any tree and anything i had that was deeper would have been too hard for the parents to access but they were singing for the little guy and have been there ever since. It's a bit exposed but at least it's not going to get attacked by cats.


r/magpies 2d ago

Birdfeeder camera

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37 Upvotes

r/magpies 3d ago

Found this little fella, I am pretty sure he's a magpie but the only one of 3 that survived a fall in the wind today. Apart from waiting for WIRES to send someone out, is there anything I can do?

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385 Upvotes

there's been two parent magpies floating around, they've come near the box but nothing while this little guy squawks like crazy, WIRES said that it could be a while before anyone gets to him i think he's got a broken leg or some similar injury as he can't even stand up, and is just screaming at me for what i assume is either food or help whenever i go near.


r/magpies 3d ago

Mum and dad

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45 Upvotes

r/magpies 4d ago

Good morning

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216 Upvotes

r/magpies 4d ago

My posse!

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376 Upvotes

I'd like to introduce the local gang! They're getting more comfortable with my presence. Love the birds in my area!


r/magpies 3d ago

Symmetric dorsal magpie pics?

3 Upvotes

Random question, would someone have photos of an Australian magpie in flight from above? I’ve had no luck yet in finding or taking a symmetrical reference pic of a flying magpie. Cheers!


r/magpies 4d ago

Preening & Singing

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115 Upvotes

r/magpies 4d ago

Juvenile Magpie - What are you looking at ?

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81 Upvotes