Help, please. Magpies in the trees.

[MaryBear]

They divebomb the sheltie and neighbors' dogs. How to get rid of them in a residential neighborhood without using a BB gun?

[SoCalDem]

1. windchimes hung from branches???

aol cd's???
aluminum foil pie plates???

those took care of birds for my friend..

don't know about magpies..

They may have young and are protecting them :)

[Champion Jack]

2. I have crows in my trees

or did, I took old CD's (bad burns, AOL disks etc) tied them together with fishing line. I tied them about 10 inches apart and flung them into the trees as high as I could. This may take a few trys, but, keep it up 'till they catch in the branches.
They move in the wind and the light reflected from the discs drives the crows away.

[TrogL]

3. Shotgun, bazooka, biological warfare

nobody will mind

[radwriter0555]

4. NOTHING. There is absolutely NOTHING you can do, short of firing

firecrackers on a bow and arrow into the trees, ala Steel Magnolias.

The birds have a nest there and are defending it.

Not a dang thang you can do. The dogs will be fine. Keeps em on their toes really.

[noonwitch]

5. I wouldn't write off the bb gun idea so fast

They work for this type of thing. I know they work for killing rats, it's kind of a hobby in large cities. I wish I could kill possums with one, but it takes more than bbs to kill them. The neigbor's bull dog seems to do best for those ugly marsupials.

[mkregel]

6. .22 is the best and most humane way

to take out a possum. You have to aim well tho - right between the eyes.

Sounds sick, but I grew up in the woods. Sometimes you have to spill a little possum blood, especially when they are known to attack kids.

[amazona]

7. if in the U.S. I think it's probably illegal to shoot them

Magpies are native birds, whereas shelties are non-native domestic animals. Unfortunately, Magpies have a sense of mischief and they do enjoy dive-bombing the enemy. In my area, the deep south, we have Mockingbirds, which do the same thing, except they enjoy dive-bombing cats. Best thing to do is to enjoy the show as it is illegal to interfere with them without a license, which you won't get. There may be a nest nearby, as dive-bombing is always more intense during the nesting season. Don't laugh. I know it is August but I am still getting Mockingbird fledglings being followed about by protective parents. Sometimes birds can raise three broods or even more in a year. Let 'em be. When the cool weather comes, they will probably calm down considerably.

I envy you your Magpies. I enjoy watching their games.

[XNASA]

8. Is this them?

If it is, you'll never get rid of them.

I had some Yellow Crowned Night Heron's nesting in a tree once. What I did was grab a few tennis balls. Then I'd bounce the tennis balls off of my aluminum garage door a few times, making a loud noise. Then I'd toss the tennis balls out in front of the Herons, where they could see them, and they'd fly away.

After a while, all I had to do was bounce a tennis ball of off the garage door and the herons would take off. After that, I'd just bang my fist on the garage door and they'd fly off. Kind of a Pavlov's dog thing.

It worked. And nobody got hurt. Of course if there are young magpies nesting, nothing will chase them away.

[MaryBear]

10. kick

how many have had success with shiny things and noise?

[Devils Advocate NZ]

9. I know this will sound silly, but...

When I was growing up in Australia, Magpies were a common problem for the kids. It was not unusual for a kid to come home with a chunk missing from his head after being dive bombed by magpies.

Anyway, we were taught a little trick that saved us from such problems. Magpies will not attack from the front, they always fly around behind you and then attack. So for us humans, the solution was simple: wear a hat with eyes painted on the back!

Apparently, the eyes fool the Magpie into thinking you're facing them and they won't get anywhere near you. Problem solved.

I don't know if this will work for dogs, or even if it will work against US magpies, but you never know.

[amazona]

14. I've used this successfully for Blue Jays so why not

When they were dive bombing me and "tapping" the back of my head, I made a baseball cap covered with cheap gold metallic pins. They wouldn't touch that. I've also been bombed by Mockingbirds. I think it's funny, I have to admit it.

[realFedUp]

11. put em in a magpie pie

:-)

[Blue_Chill]

12. Tennis racket and some beer

You may not get them but your neighbors will thank me for the show :D

[Don_G]

13. There Was A Major Bird Problem Here

Nothing seemed to work against the birds that flocked around the Court House at night.

Finally, a company was found that used some grape-smelling non lethal chemical to drive them away. I don't have many details but a Google search might come up with some information.

[Avalux]

15. This works

get a recording of a hawk screeching and play it through a loudspeaker. Businesses do it here to keep them out of the trees in the parking lots. Very effective.

[this_side_up]

16. In the Us, the

only yard birds you can legally kill are English sparrows
and starlings. For nuisance birds, you need a permit.

You could call your local Fish & Wildlife office and
local Audubon Society or birdwatching club for suggestions.

One thing I know that works on ALL birds is to get
a balloon that has a big eye on it. It seems birds see
the eye and leave.

I've seen the eye balloons in birdwatching catalogs.
You could also call your local wild bird seed store.

One more thing that supposedly works are plastic
statues of owls.

If it was me, I'd try the heavy duty vinyl balloon(s)
first.

But it is only mid-August and they might still have
babies in the nest but I think they should be gone soon
if not 2-3 weeks ago? Unless this is a second crop
of babies. If so, it will be another 1-3 weeks.

Edit: If they still have babies fledging, please wait until
they are on their own (1-3 more weeks) and then put
up the balloon.

[geniph]

17. They have a nest

Wait till the babies fledge and they leave, then remove the nest so they don't use it next year.

Personally, I love all the corvids - magpies, jays, ravens, crows. They're a pain in the ass, but they're smarter than most of the people I know.

[MissMarple]

18. I put out a plastic owl, that helps tremendously.

Also, make sure you don't have a ready source of food for them, such as dog or cat food outside your house. And yes, if you discourage them from your area, they will nest elsewhere.

They are smart birds, but they can be vicious and agressive. They tried to attack my cat once. Our dog barked until I realized there was a problem and went out to rescue her. He kept them at bay, but they weren't going anywhere. I don't like them.

The hawk screeching sounds like a great idea, I'll remember that if they start to come back.