Elaine Jones wrote:
Quoting from message
posted on 21 Mar 2004 by Colonel Bloomer
I would like to add:

On Sun, 21 Mar 2004 22:22:23 -0000, "ned" wrote:

Colonel Bloomer wrote:

big snip

Interesting points and quite feasible. However I don't wear it,
in
my garden the mags live happily side by side with the other
birdies and I cant recall the last time I saw a bird of prey
here,
so not that common I'd guess.

Magpies are corvids (crow family) and are scavengers. At nesting
time their opportunistic instincts take over and they thieve any
eggs and fledgelings they can find. Whether that equates to happy
co-existance is a matter of debate. :-))

Opportunistic and actively seeking out are completely different
issues, certainly in my garden the mags will not actively seek out
birds nests or chicks. Last year we successfully saw blackbird and
blue tit chicks leave the nest.

Magpies will actively seek the nests of domestic hens, whether in
hedge- bottoms or nesting boxes inside henhouses - the reason why
Dad
always had a catapult and pile of pebbles to hand.

As stated above magpies will thieve eggs and fledglings. Magpies are
on the increase and are pests+++.

Yes, contrary to popular belief, Nature is not the pretty, pretty
civilised environment that some think it is. It is a harsh, cruel
place to survive in. Everything has its place in the predatory chain
and anything that dies of old age is mighty fortunate.
Hunger will very quickly transform an opportunistic feeder to seek out
an easy meal.

--
ned