There is one common bird in our garden that never fails to split opinion. The magpie, with it’s black, white and glossy green feathers, can be seen right across our country . This relative of the crow is a highly social and intelligent bird, but it’s ASBO behaviour can puts it in many people’s bad books. But why do magpies have this aggressive reputation? To find the answer, you need to look at what the birds are eating.
Magpies belong to a group of birds called corvids, which includes crows, jays and magpies among others. This family of birds is among the very smartest, with magpies able to solve puzzles, mimic human speech and recognise itself in a mirror. They need this intelligence because their diet is very varied. They’ll eat berries and seeds from plants but can often be seen walking across large fields looking for insects and worms. They are also fantastic scavengers and are one of the first birds to be spotted in urban environments. This opportunistic and omnivorous diet means these birds have a better chance of enduring the harshest of seasons.
To find their food, magpies rely on their keen senses but also each other. Magpie pairs mate for life and when they have fledged chicks, the family will spend hours searching for food in their home range. More eyes and ears are better for spotting the next meal. Although scraps may occur when something really valuable (or tasty) is found, the benefits of family life out-way the squabbling. In winter, different flocks will even join forces to increase the chances of finding food.
Their varied diet does however have a darker side. In spring many smaller birds are nesting and magpies will, if given the chance, take bird eggs and also chicks from the nest. This may be one of the biggest factors for the magpie’s ‘aggressive’ reputation. It may be hard to watch when this happens in the garden, but it is all part of the ecosystem. By taking a percentage of each year’s chicks, magpies are reducing the number of birds who will become adults.
If all chicks born lived to adulthood, the hunting pressure on insects and grubs could mean that the birds would eat all available food and be left hungry. Magpie predation therefore plays it’s part in keeping the ecosystem, and all the creatures who rely upon it, in a natural balance.
Don’t forget…
Leave a question or comment below about your opinion on the local magpies and you could be featured in next week’s blog! You can also send your wildlife pictures to:
russ@naturetalksandwalks.co.uk
Also remember to subscribe to our blog at the top right of the screen for updates on events, your pictures, wild files and much more.
Take care, and stay on the wild side.
Hi Russ,
I have magpies in my garden and I also have cats. Is it normal for magpies to eat cat food? The seem to have found the “perfect” free-ready-to-go meal, but I’m not sure if that’s good for them. What do you think?
Thank you so much!
Emma
Hi Emma,
Thanks for getting in touch. You sound like you have some very lucky magpies. The cat food is a good source of protein for them and to my knowledge there shouldn’t be anything too bad in there for them. They will naturally continue to forage for other food sources and as long as they have this mix they will have a healthy diet.
All the best,
Russ
hello.. my dog got a baby magpie,, don’t think it is hurt bad.. its young and cant fly yet.. how r what should I try 2 feed it thank u ……… maria
I was looking out of the window and saw what i thought might be a wild mushroom (some sort of agaricus). Just as i was looking and straining my eyes trying to see if it was a mushroom, a magpie came over to it, pulled it out the ground and started pecking it, so i then knew it was a mushroom, i wonder if they eat mushrooms or if it was checking for maggots!
Magpies are quite the interesting bird they are! Done a lot of observing of them. My favorite bird. Quite cool to now what they eat now. Thanks a bunch!
Hi, I have a little baby magpie and I’ve heard that they can eat cat food but it must be combined with some more ingredients, is it true? and if yes, what kind of ingredients ?
Hi Lily,
I’m not sure what formula would be best for a young magpie. Catfood seems to be a good starting choice. The best thing to do is contact your nearest wildlife/bird rescue centre for some more advice.
One thing I can say is to avoid large chunks in the food, a nice mush of food and little and often would be the best approach for the young bird. I will be in touch with further details.
Many thanks for getting in touch,
Russ
Magpies are insectivores, they eat insects and raw meat, I once saved a baby magpies that fell to the ground and I fed them mince meat, raw red meat, crickets, flies, ants, worms, any bugs really, they also eat mice and frogs etc
This comment is from my daughter aged 8 who is researching magpies for a school project:
Although I don’t like the idea of magpies eating chiks out of other birds nests I understand that they have to keep nature running properly.
We have an injured magpie in our garden, it can get about but it can’t fly. We have been feeding it bread in the mornings, but are wondering what else it can be fed. The bird is paired up and it’s mate is still supporting it.
Don’t feed magpies bread it’s not really good for them, throw some mince meat or raw dog bones for them, they eat insects
I was concerned today as two magpies were paying too much attention to my rabbits in their pen. Just as I was going out one rabbit showed some aggression and they flew off. I read somewhere that they can kill and eat rabbits so will have to watch them.
Magpies seem to love cat food.A Magpie eats my cat’s food every day.
I was wondering if magpies are known to feed on carcasses other than birds. I recall in a movie one time where the discussion of a dead body was found, and one of the police officers had said there wasn’t much left of the body because magpies had gotten to it. Can this truly happen?
Hi Dave. Magpies will indeed feed off the carcasses of other animals, including deer. However, in this scenario, (and without getting too grim) magpies would probably struggle to get past clothing. Something else with sharper claws, teeth or beaks would be needed for that job!
Hey I have a pet magpie named joe ; never tried cat food , he eats cranberry granola bars ; he loves them , goin to try cat food to . Thanks
About six months ago I stated putting nuts out on my window sill and a couple of magpies and a blackbird regularly come over. The magpies were very cautious at first, if they saw me in the room they would grab a nut and fly away. Now they don’t seem to mind if I’m in the room. Just last week the nuts had finished and I hadn’t topped it up for a few days and one morning I was leaving for work. I was walking down the street and one of the magpies flew down and sat on a wall a few just ahead of me and as I walked along he jumped ahead to a wheelie bin a few doors down and then again. I think s/he was telling me I need to top up the nuts! I have to say they are very handsome and very intelligent birds. I don’t know about cat food, but I may try some dried cranberries and sunflower seeds.
Hi, I recently bought a field camera and set it up in our wood (mainly oak and ash) where the ground had been disturbed, hoping to see foxes or badgers at work. However, the video revealed a large crowd of magpies – could have been up to 15 – all rooting around in the leaf mould .is this normal behaviour? And what would they be looking for?
Hi Clarissa, sounds like you were lucky with your camera! Magpies live in extremely social groups and as such will often search for food together. It sounds like this is what your group (or tidings) of magpies were looking for. But seeing such a large group is not uncommon – different families of magpies will sometimes work together to look for food. The birds are very vulnerable to predators on the ground and more eyes and ears means more chances to spot a potential enemy.
Hi I have a baby magpie with injured wing vets will just pts so I’ve brought it inside but unsure what to do next
It has all feathers so not too young but if I left it my cars would have killed it
Hello Russ
I Iive in France and have several walnut trees in the garden. I have just seen nine magpies eating something on or under the grass under the walnut trees. Could they be eating walnuts? Have you heard of them doing this? There are lot of walnut shells which have holes in them and contents removed and I had assumed that it was mice until now.
Regards – Sue
Hi Sue.
Very possibly the magpies are eating the walnuts. It is possible that the frenzy you’re seeing at the bottom of the tree is the attempts of magpies breaking into the shells.
With the holes on the shells, if you check around the edge of the hole you should see ‘bite marks’ if it has been caused by a rodent.
Happy wildlife watching!
Russ
Hi,we have a friendly magpie at our park that plays
With my terrier every day,seems to really enjoy being
Chased and even when Stella get tired,flys
To her and flicks her with her wing,so funny to watch
I have noticed this year that I have more Magpies in the garden than usual, leaving out all the scraps from the dinner table have helped the other smaller species thrive, is this a good thing to do. Suggestions are welcome
Do magpie take other birds eggs from the nest’s like duck eggs
Hi Margaret. Magpies are omnivores and opportunists. As a result, if they find an abandoned or unoccupied nest they would probably eat the eggs, but only if they are able to find the nest in question.
A magpie just buried a small egg in my garden. Have never seen them do this before
Hi Kim, it sounds like it has stashed this egg away for later. Magpies will eat eggs if they find them as well as a huge range of food types.
Hi Russ,
Thank you for this report it is so good for my home work (im 10) and if you think i should right lots of reports about animals tell me. Also can you tell me about Parrots is well i’m tring to become a animal wrighter.
Thank you,
Ethan
I put all my birds “fat balls” and “seeds pot HIGH up on a washing line so the cats cannot get to them, they absolutely love it and they queue,its so cute. A magpie has started to drink and bathe in an old roasting tin that has filled with rain water and surprisingly it has taken a liking to the tin tuna and tin mackerel that I leave out for the cats
Hi….I really dislike when these shrewd birds hunt and eat baby birds….today too I witnessed a big magpie hunting a baby bird and eating it…first I felt should kill that magpie…but then realised this is Wild! Just like watching Animal Planet or Discovery Channel Live! So moved out of the scene and came here for posting the comment 🙂
And sure they are just playing a part….!
We’ve got Magpies in our area that aren’t a problem – unless of course they takes the fish from my garder pond? Never seen them at the pond but I’m told they do take fish from ponds?
Do magpie take milk of the doorstep,because if so my mother think she has seen 3 doing this on a morning
Possibly, although when you say the magpies have ‘taken’ the milk do you mean drink? It would be quite a task for a magpie to fly off with the bottle!
Whilst watching magpies throwing the multi-coloured shingle around and causing a right mess, foraging for food I presumed, I noticed the birds appeared to be sorting the white/cream coloured stones out and then swallowed them. Any ideas why they are doing this??
Hi Carmen,
Magpies are very clever birds and it may be the ones you were watching were young birds, learning in the same way our children do. Recognising colour and pattern and being able to separate items into categories. Or they just like playing with stones 🙂
I have a very young magpie visiting me daily and it is the highlight of my day. So very beautiful, inquisitive, intelligent and funny. It’s currently eating meal worms, cat food and berries. It has got very brave and very cheeky. My house cat waits every day by my backdoor ,where I have a great view , the magpie raps on the door with it’s beak and they spend hours on and off throughout the day chasing each other to and fro through the glass. The very best things in life are free 🙂
We’ve just watched a mother magpie push three dandelion flowers down her baby’s throat! Never seen this before and there is plenty of other food available in our rural yard just now.
Have family of magpies, 2 babies, How much food do they consume in a day. Mine get fresh minced meat.
I see a lot of magpies down by my gym. I carry whole sunflower seeds in a baggie in my handbag. I scatter some in the parking lot, but no one seems to ‘rush’ right over. Should I be scattering something else, or elsewhere?? (some of the magpies seem awfully thin; I think they have been working out)
I saw six magpies this morning squabbling over rotting apples in he garden. I’ve seen blackbirds do this but not magpies.
I realise Magpies take eggs and chicks from nests but yesterday was unbelievable here in a southern suburb on the edge of a large town. After many squabbles with a starling family of fledglings a chase ensued with a magpie. Resulting in a the young starling crashing into the window. It bounced several metres and was trapped by the magpie. The magpie dragged it off screaming to the middle of our small lawn, where it proceeded to peck it. The magpie only stopped and moved away as a red kite swooped down and stole the young starling. I was surprised it would try to eat a bird of this size. They are very aggressive right now and frustrated as there is food for squirrels they cannot get to and other bird feeders.
I had some crunchy granola that was no longer crunchy but still good, so I put it out in the bird feeder, the kind that’s like a long tube of netting, meant to put peanuts in. A few hours later, I saw a magpie sitting on the feeder, flapping its wings wildly to shake it around so the granola fell out to the ground. On the ground were three more magpies busily eating what the first one shook out of the feeder.
I guess there wasn’t enough room for them all to eat from the feeder.