Magpie - Pica pica
My father in law hated these birds. So much so that he bought was is known as a Larsen trap. A magpie would be lured in with some dogfood and then kept alive and captive in one half of the traps chamber. Other magpies would come to investigate and one by one get trapped and then despatched. Why the hatred ? a Magpie will take the eggs and chicks from the nests of songbirds. I think one Summer a magpie had made its way down a hedge taking all the eggs from the whittethroat nests. War ensued.
They are doing far too well in the UK and are a pest to other birds so some control is probably necessary. I have to say that I don't like them.
Barn Elms, London
April 2012
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