Magpies - should you feed them?

Let's go behind the scenes at Western Australia's busiest wildlife rehabilitation facility and see what's involved in Magpie rehabilitation and whether you should feed wild birds or rescue healthy baby birds found on the ground.

[@ninjaskeleton6140]

Yes, feed them. It’s a protection racket, they won’t swoop you if you feed them.

[@Gadzookss]

i can also agree with this, we feed them with the good quality minced meat + insectivore powder mix designed for magpies,butcher birds. we mash the powder,mince together and they love it. we take their trees,land away for our buildings,paper,etc so its fair to give something back to them in return

[@Bobby-fj8mk]

That's right - you have to give them a little treat once per week so they know you're their friend. They remember my face and even walk after me when I go to the letterbox and back hoping I'll give them a treat. They love little thin strips of salami.

[@nataliemay415]

Its a balancing act of gaining trust therefore not getting swooped, but also allowing them to be wild and just do their thing. ❤ they're a magpie not a budgie.

[@reynard4823]

This is actually correct

[@lilbitsleepy2574]

😂😂 true true

[@hereinoz7051]

I got a family of 5 that currently visit twice a day. Drop their young off in the morning, collect them in the afternoon. Love having them visit

[@Euro.Patriot]

I feed the 3 that live on my street regularly, the male and baby come into the kitchen through the door connecting it to the balcony. They've learned to sit on the table for more food.

[@reynanteescalona2200]

I love magpies ..thank you for caring that birds..god bless

[@blackletter2591]

I give the local pair a few small strips of fresh beef when they are hanging around, especially if they are being pursued by noisy, demanding chicks. They never swoop us and can identify us whatever we wear.

[@mickzammit6794]

We've recently received a metre of rain and the local magpies and figbirds are soaked,bedraggled and starving. I'm feeding them whenever they ask for food.

[@JulieIelasi-lt7yp]

I love our magpies awww beautiful 😍

[@LaurentDubus-vy9rb]

Hang on, everyday I see birds or Magpies eating food scrapes off the ground or bins that has either been discarded from Macas or Hungry Jacks on my way to School, I don't know if you realise but birds have been feeding them self food scrapes from people for over twenty thousands of years?

[@viviennewenig8673]

Totally love magpies❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@paul9511]

Lots of us feed all the critters.we take over their land,chop the trees down, Destroy their habitat,s the least some of can do is feed them something healthy,put water out...nothing wrong with tree hugging either.

[@RespectMyAuthoritaah]

I draw the line at hugging trees. After a tree fell on my garage during a windstorm I cut down 12 more trees on my property. I am always cleaning up after trees whether it is leaves or pine straw and pine cones. Not a fan.

[@shanecloak4495]

This is the way..!

[@bec5250]

@@RespectMyAuthoritaah Jeez, maybe we should just denude the world of trees then. Can't be having leaves, pine straw or pine cones inconveniencing you.

[@RespectMyAuthoritaah]

@@bec5250 True.

[@coasterblocks3420]

When I’m gardening they’re usually hanging around behind me picking through the green waste and the turned over soil. I’ll throw them any worms I injure or grubs i find. But I don’t go out of my way to feed them.

[@JvdahMC]

Good

[@JulieIelasi-lt7yp]

Thank you soooo much for helping the beautiful magpie's 😍 awwww

[@greenmaster-1967]

Karen are you alright? there everywhere, and thank goodness for that, i live in brisbane and the tribe i live near are just so amazing and your right there family structure is one to be admired. cheers for your amazing work

[@soppingclam]

Good on ya's. Love the work you guys do.

[@wawildlife5260]

Thank you :)

[@Isaac-ho8gh]

Giving them water is equivalent to feeding them, and they can still be just as independent if you feed them by not feeding them too much lol

[@AliOsman-wy8ti]

My family and me feed every animal that comes on our backyard

[@joannemurdock7899]

Me too!

[@shanecloak4495]

I don't know you, but I know that you're good people. 💜

[@trivial50]

@@shanecloak4495 the expert said to not do that - just because you enjoy it doesn't make it good

[@aquariusmoon771]

💙

[@lythyboo]

😶 if u like the bird and u want their babies to thrive not die at least be irregular and feeding them food that includes insects like crickets, daily scheduled feeding doesn’t just make em a nuisance it can kill a bird if they don’t learn to hunt properly as a chick.

[@johnziersch4605]

I’m a retired driving instructor living next to a nature trail in McLaren Vale .SA. - I feed a few magpies on my daily walks to discourage swooping, but don’t invite them to where I live. My “girlfriend”, is a very young female so early on I decided to not feed her every day, so that she wouldn’t become dependent on being fed by humans. I noticed that she doesn’t plop down in front of me for a feed every day, so that’s good. I haven't seen any swooping at all the last 12 months.

[@viviennewenig8673]

Really helpful video

[@chrisquintrell7116]

People need to realise.. that both noisy minor bird and introduced minor bird species is absolutely devastating tye bird populations.. I live in Umina Beach NSW. Moved back to care for nan since last February. Nan used to get every type of bird at home. Now all i hear along the streets when im riding is those vermin minor birds. We hae only two magpies who come amd visit me and Nan now. Nan used to have flocks of birds here. The other morning i walked out the back to see Marvin ( the Magpie) he was just sitting on the clothesline surrounded by minor birds.. Ive already messaged the council they did nothing...

[@burtlade1705]

Good job!

[@garynewton1263]

You can feed them mealworms, crickets, grasshoppers, worms etc but not human food. Build a Compost heap and get a bird bath and the Maggies will love you.

[@blackspace473]

I used to feed a momma magpie with breads and she even fed it to her chicks. Was that a bad thing? :/

[@garynewton1263]

@@blackspace473 of course its bad. Bread has yeast, sugar and salt.........deadly to native animals.

[@blackspace473]

@@garynewton1263 Oh, okay, good to know. That was 4 years ago, so it doesn’t matter anymore.

[@wawildlife5260]

Well done

[@margareth1504]

Great, I also keep a couple of neatish leafy compost mounds in the front garden, and thats something they love to check out each day for a while. I can water it down a bit from time to time, and, I keep a decent depth of a tub of water about a kitchen sink size with clean water for their use, then water my plants with that water later. They call out for the tub of water at times if I havent filled it, and will wait there as I fix it up. Only one time when quite hot, two magpies were there and one was in the empty tub, and stayed in while I filled it up. They really like to get down in the water and flap a bit in it. Its just amazing and wonderful to see them and to hear them too.

[@wj2429]

That's right, Jay!

[@AGolfHitter]

I feed them mince mixed with wombaroo mix because my neighbours feed them crappy food.

[@iamthatiam363]

Mince sticks in their beak and rots I've been told.

[@AGolfHitter]

@@iamthatiam363 I mix enough in so it's not sticky anymore.

[@AGolfHitter]

@andrew ryan ...What? Punctuation would help.

[@AGolfHitter]

@andrew ryan Um no I won't, Pecan. As long as the neighbors are feeding them garbage, I will feed them meat with insect mix in it. Don't preach to me about intelligence when you aren't even using what you should have learned in the first grade.

[@bec5250]

The wombaroo stuff is great. I blend up meal worms and egg yolks for them.

[@oftin_wong]

They can become quite thin and stressed out in the height of summer as the soil hardens in areas of clay soil, it becomes harder for them to get any invertebrates out of the ground Often they will cross over to food sources they wouldn't normally eat

[@garynewton1263]

Yeah, I've noticed for example that Maggies struggle in Adelaide where its very dry whereas Melbourne where I'm from the soil is usually softer and grass greener and water is more abundant. I think councils across Australia should introduce water vessels of sorts for native animals such as birds, lizards, possums, koalas,etc. If they can't access water they will eventually die.

[@oftin_wong]

@@garynewton1263 yes, they prefer rain it helps them greatly but you know in the big picture ...22 million years of magpies ...we have about 15 million years of catch up to do on them so, ...they are doing ok, thanks for caring about them

[@garynewton1263]

@@oftin_wong Catching up? No........humans are incredibly dumb, ignorant and stupid. Thats why idiots continue to feed them molasses, mince and bread. When was the last time you saw humans eating worms, crickets, grasshoppers, cockroaches and butcher bugs? Why not? Because its no good for humans!

[@oftin_wong]

@@garynewton1263 I am just saying Humans 7 million years Magpies 22 million I'm sure you can count it up

[@garynewton1263]

@@oftin_wong yes I can count. I'm not from adelaide or sydney so I'm quite well educated.

[@steadybuilt7139]

Couple paradise ducks landed in my yard the other day, was wondering what all the commotion was about, the magpies that live in my pine trees were not happy about it and were swooping them obviously not happy they were hunting grubs on their turf lol! The ducks were so funny just doing their best to ignore them until more magpies showed up, was funny as hell to watch.

[@Klemheist-vf1hx]

Nothing wrong with feeding them. Just make sure you're well within their territory to avoid squabbles between Parliaments at the boundary line. You'll know when you're within the boundary because they warble less and softly grunt more. The classic warble is a territorial claim to other magpies. I feed them ground beef and crushed eggshells for calcium. They remember you for months if you've been away and are beautiful, expressive creatures.

[@melbourneauditing3404]

I offer them seeds and nuts In the morning they come near my bedroom window and wait for me to feed them!

[@alourxx]

bruh

[@macalister8881]

Drought , dead grass , no bugs , flys or mosqitos , birds are skinny made me sad to see one in such poor shape ..

[@kathleenlewis1954]

Too late, I've got two.

[@sarahfaith86]

never been attacked even when feeding the elders and young and yes I will continue to feed them and leave out water, as their habitat is being destroyed by humans. The minor birds will swoop though

[@darylcheshire1618]

My neighbours tell me not to leave out seed, I’ll just be feeding rats and possums.

[@vickibrown8490]

Magpies love maggots! When I end up with maggots in the bin, I wait until early evening, tip the maggots onto the grass & the magpies swoop down & devour them.

[@robmarshall956]

You might want to rephrase that 😂

[@vickibrown8490]

@@robmarshall956 It did sound as though I was a bit maggot-ridden 😂

[@robmarshall956]

@@vickibrown8490 it did, I’ve had a bad case of worms but you took it too another level )) I’m in the southern highlands of New South Wales, I started feeding 1 magpie about 6 years ago and that ended up being 3 but early 2020 I had 50 or so suddenly turn up and got overwhelmed and just had to stop, they all moved in overnight ) don’t know why or from where, amazingly though I don’t feed them they are all still here, my neighbour has chickens so they just get all the chicken food and come over here to eat it )) I play them music and just keep the water up and they are happy as Larry.

[@garynewton1263]

Mealworms, Earthworms, crickets, grasshoppers, cockroaches, butcher bugs and small lizards. Wish people would stop feeding them bread, meat and molasses.

[@kathleenlewis1954]

That's certainly cheeper than cashews and meat

[@craigmanning467]

We don't have magpies in the USA(Texas) I love birds would be great to have them around. I already have grackles crapping on my car so would be nice to have a nicer bird around.

[@JvdahMC]

Would you really say Australian Magpies are nicer than Grackles? I’d personally say Grackles look prettier, although I’ve never seen either irl because I’m from the UK

[@craigmanning467]

@@JvdahMC Heathy grackles have a nice shiny all black coat, incandesent. They are attractive, but tend to be bad natured. Blue Jay-ish in a sort of way. I am not familiar with Magpies so know nothing of their personalities. They seem nicer. Could not imagine becoming friends with a grac.

[@roxyiconoclast]

There are magpies in the western US, according to Wikipedia. There’s a tribe around my husband’s office in Salt Lake City, but for some reason I rarely see them in the parks or college campus in the area. I wonder why.

[@_c_y_p_3]

Not exactly sure why, maybe its too hot in Texas but we have em in eastern Washington.

[@roxyiconoclast]

I recently read that the magpies in Australia are a different family of bird from those called magpies in Europe and the US. No wonder they act so differently.

[@nataliemay415]

I feed them, well they feed themselves really. But I don't try to tame them. I get their trust enough that I no longer get swooped but they're still a wild bird ❤ it's a happy balance.

[@Kostianovsky]

I don't care i will still feed the

[@trivial50]

intelligent person

[@huyanhle]

Magpies love "GRUBS" so much. I used to dig grubs in my garden. I held them in my hand. Magpie saw and flew to my hand and ate them from my hand. From there on, every time while I digged the soil, magpie would come like those chicken do

[@LayneBenofsky]

Magpies seem like cuter, squeakier crows/ravens. :D

[@TenOrbital]

There’s ravens in Australia but A. magpies are unrelated. They are songbirds not corvids.

[@Steamworkers]

The only downside is spring

[@brianb8856]

You obviously never been swooped by one lol

[@australiantruckspotting8883]

@@Steamworkers If you feed them they’ll leave you alone

[@ltisenotem]

I still can't tell if this is Robert Irwin or not

[@debrajones9325]

Who cares.. We feed all wildlife.. Possums, birds, ducks? So what? It's good for the soul. ❤

[@worldpeace666now]

Please help, found a baby in the middle of the road...I assume parents and nest are near by, I'm reluctant to put it back in the area...as it can't fly fully, I've contacted AZoo...no one has come to pick it up! Thank you in advance.

[@St.petersEye]

It's amazing ppl are bringing in injured Maggie's ❤ we don't feed them, it tempting but my mother has a jungle of a garden and love the abundance of grubs and insects. They spend most there day on my front lawn yodelling 😅 "And remember to check them pouches of wallabies and kangaroos when seen them killed on the side of roads." ❤🇦🇺

[@nqgamer]

Don’t feed them, but give them something to drink? Please explain

[@cemre2110]

PLEASE RESPOND HELP IN NEED hello i have found one of these after a storm in a water puddle it can jump and run around but it cannot fly. it has been two days i have been feeding it and bring it outside i do not know when I should release it, and i am afraid that it imprints on me and cannot be released. it looks like it is a baby altough it is not very little i have also heard that they leave the nest before they learn how to fly so i am worried that i have made a mistake. then again if i release it and it gets eaten i would be very upset. please help me i do not know what to do

[@k1980]

Well I only ever occasionally feed them

[@nnaheim.]

Do this for Gromm.

[@d4nth3m4n8]

i walked out on the front patio with a bowl of coco pops one morning and was mobbed by 40 magpies all wanting a mouthfull.... they where lining up on the railing..... (this stemmed from feeding a pair of chicks that parents would literally drop off to me every morning... NOT coco pops lol )

[@vulturedrawz]

We have a family of magpies that come to our house 10 rimes each spray, the babies are bigger and baby (idk why we called the second one baby ) the parents are just momma bird and dad. Yeah we only named burger, we feed them some meat , rarely some bread. But we also let them get their own huge grubs from out yard (they are really good at finding them) they get so many grubs from out yard sometimes they leave dead ones there, it’s kinda gross

[@mikeway9627]

I have feed magpies for about 60 years and had no sick birds, birds that come and see me when they want a feed. You should use sense.

[@lythyboo]

U should use ur sense love, if ur feeding a bird regularly and they have a chick they learn to be fed not to hunt. What happens when u ur not there? U have raised generations of birds that don’t know how to fend for themselves efficiently. If u have been doing this for 60 years I’m certain u have killed a few birds cause u thought they were cute (I get it) but Ur not doing them any favours… if ur going to do it regularly at least please feed them INSECTS. Not bread, mince or dog food.

[@Mary_QQQ]

​@lythyboo nonsense. They still know how to find food and teach their young to do it too

[@lythyboo]

@@Mary_QQQ yes ur so right I just talk shit for fun and no nothing about animals Ur so right I’m sure ur crusty 15yr old yorkie is a apex predator, feeding animals for generations has never done nothin to nobody 🤪 I hope this made u feel better about ur selfish intrusion into nature 🥰 the animals love u for it right?

[@lythyboo]

@@Mary_QQQ feeding generations of maggis would never teach em to beg for food? that’s never happened before has it?? If they are busy teaching teaching the bubs to beg they don’t learn to hunt as effectively, this over generations leads to starving birds that are bad hunters and unable to reproduce. It’s not nonsense it’s actually common sense u should try it sometime.

[@tblk3747]

Sorry I just can't resist feeding them 😂

[@clonecommanderbly7408]

The same 2 magpies come to my house every day

[@badboy46528]

@@clonecommanderbly7408 yeah have 2 or 3 regulars they seem very shy even after many months of feeding unfortunately before that was visited by couple of wood pigeons but magpies bullied them away so was hesitant initially ;)

[@clonecommanderbly7408]

@@badboy46528 there's also 3 butcher birds that come to my house but the magpies will always attack them, and steal the mince off them

[@andrewksadventures]

@@badboy46528 The wood pidgeons or spotted turtle doves aren't native to Australia anyway!

[@badboy46528]

@@andrewksadventures yeah didn't know as leaving in Ireland

[@adrianakoneski5869]

Is it maggpie good luck or no?

[@ibby_869]

I feed them because i dont want to get swooped

[@wawildlife5260]

Not the best idea. It can actually increase populations as more food available which causes more swooping for other people

[@jimmartin9704]

I walked about 2 k's to workand feed about 6 different groups of Maggie's and was never once swooped on. Had to go away for about 15 months and when l started walking to work again it took about 2 days for them to come up to me, so that shit about not feeding them is all bullshit mate

[@Dragon-Slay3r]

😭

[@omega4chimp]

I feed magpies dog food.

[@rongreenfield340]

Do not have magpies but we feed about a 100 different birds in our yard especially during a drought or dead of winter. As soon as they seeme

[@RainbowCoda]

So dont feed them?

[@sinamirmahmoud7606]

when your credit card doesn't work ... then you will understand bro ... no more credit

[@RespectMyAuthoritaah]

Gonna feed them anyway. Just kidding. We don't have Magpies where I live. We do have Crows, but it is against the law to feed them or make pets of them.

[@wordsisnukes]

DOnt'

[@stunseedordeesnuts]

Yes, food is protection money for the Magpie mob

[@hopkon]

Feed them peanuts 🥜

[@Cryton12345]

The real question is, what if you accidently left food out and now you got....over 50 of them in your back yard?

[@wawildlife5260]

Oh no!

[@sourceismissing]

I feed a magpie bread, is that ok? and it trust me hand feeding it

[@wawildlife5260]

Bread not good for Magpies. Depending where you are it could be illegal. Best leave them to eat insects. Just appreciate them as a wild bird :)

[@gregcooper3548]

@@wawildlife5260 so dont feed them thats all well and good but what about the people that feed them the wrong foods is it not better to tell them what to feed them as they are not going to stop feeding them.

[@oftin_wong]

If they dont like it they wont eat it

[@wawildlife5260]

No bread is bad

[@ShipCreek]

Please don't feed any animal bread. There is no nutrition in bread. It ends up killing all wild life. And it's usually why pets end up sick. Its also why humans end up sick.

[@handsome_man69]

I have herpes

[@Bobby-fj8mk]

You can give them a little treat once per week but not every day. They love little thin strips of salami.

[@justinread4381]

Clown !!! Always feed Magpies it's the best way to avoid being swooped. I can walk all over Mordale in Sydney during swooping season and I'm never attacked.

[@lucylovic]

❤❤❤do not feed birds period.

[@dfguko]

Magpies? When any of them enters my property it will die very soon for sure. Same as any other bird.

[@RespectMyAuthoritaah]

LOL