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  Ian Bidders Bidwell May 31, 2013 at 9:13pm

  well it seems as good an excuse as any i've heard before. get the air rifle.I have magpies round the back of mine that cause havoc with the other birds in the garden.

  don't think the missus will let me have an air rifle tho, probably a good idea as we back onto a primary school.
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  David Cox May 31, 2013 at 9:27pm

  Take in a rescue cat that doesnt know how to kill....

  Got a tabby from a customer last year, it likes to sit in the tree and keeps the magpies away, likes to chase pidgeons, but doenst like killing them - only kills mice and rats . humane bird friendly solution :)
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  Philip Blair May 31, 2013 at 10:18pm

  A larsen trap is a good way of dealing with magpies. Catch them and tap them over the head. The most we have caught here in one year is 74 using 3 traps over 100 acres round my house. We have probably cleared over 400 in the last 10 years and have noticed a marked increase in song birds. Sparrow hawks are now nearly as big a problem.

  Phil
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  Phil Crossley May 31, 2013 at 10:53pm

  No increase in magpies, but we stood and watched rooks attacking starling nests, beating the starlings off and snatching away the chicks. Mother Nature, red in tooth and claw.
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  john jones May 31, 2013 at 10:59pm

  The nest boxes might be down to great spotted woodpeckers. They will break into them to take eggs or chicks. Like he said, nature is vicious.
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  neil aldridge May 31, 2013 at 11:24pm

  magpies have been in the fields surrounding me for years though this is the first year that ive seen them in the garden. maybe this is why a blackbird has built its nest in one of my ladders hanging on a rack against the house.
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  Jen@A&J Owenwindows&gardens June 1, 2013 at 10:42am

  I read a survey that magpie numbers have actually dropped slightly. I'm afraid it is just nature though as had been said above. Round here the biggest predator problem are sparrow hawks which of course are protected anyway.