On the Wildside: Magpies defend their patch aggressively

This was the case just the other day when a magpie stole an egg out of one of the local blackbird nests and all hell broke loose. The blackbird parents dive-bombed and actually struck the magpie in mid-flight. The kerfuffle went on for a good while as all the birds disappeared into dense foliage in the field maple tree. However, the magpie eventually emerged and flew away carrying what looked like a small, round object – the blackbirds’ egg.

Then, a couple of days later, there was a very loud squawking and shrieking overhead clearly audible from indoors. This was followed by a very heavy thud, thump, and scraping on the kitchen roof which went on for some time. Then all was silent, and I thought no more about it. The magpies frequently land heavily on the roof and are noisy when picking over moss and other debris from the gutters. The evidence of their forays is often scattered on the ground below the next day. However, in this case, what I found the following day was a magpie corpse on the driveway – clearly a murder had taken place! Magpies are highly territorial and potentially aggressive with the area divided into a limited number of prized territories with incumbent breeding pairs. There is also always a large ‘floating’ population of less successful birds available all trying to get a foothold on the property ladder. Indeed, if a bird in possession of a territory dies, then it will be almost immediately replaced by a new incomer. I recently filmed a very dominant and aggressive magpie in the garden, but on closer inspection this had lost an eye and presumably had been in a dispute. Nevertheless, it was a big bird and seemed to be dominant in the local pecking order. Maybe he was the culprit!

Professor Ian D. Rotherham, researcher, writer & broadcaster on wildlife & environmental issues, is contactable on [email protected]; follow Ian’s blog (https://ianswalkonthewildside.wordpress.com/) and Twitter @IanThewildside