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Lack of invertebrates / house sparrows (was Reed Buntings)
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 |
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