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Young Magpie

Kitty Petal
25/05/2010 22:00

Hi,

Just discovered this forum whilst trying to find advice about a young magpie!

I have a magpie nest near me and have discovered a young magpie on the grass at the front of my house. I belive that the parents do come and still feed it and have seen them doing this but i was just wondering whether it can fly at all yet? I've just seen it hopping away from people but i'm worried now incase it stays out all night and gets eaten or trampled on! Does anyone know if they do actually go back to the nest or is this just a harsh lesson in how to survive as early as they can? (so much for my day off today - ive been up and down at the window all day checking up on it!)

  • 0 26/05/2010 05:24
    Hi Kitty, and welcome to this little corner of the world! Don't worry about the baby magpie. Even if the little chap can't fly yet, if the parents have been visiting to feed it then it's ok to be out and about. Generally if a baby bird has all its feathers it's ok to be out on its own. Enjoy the inevitable comedy as it unfolds on your lawn. L.
  • 0 27/05/2010 03:25 in reply to LuckyBustard

    Hi LuckyBustard thank you for getting back to me. Unfortunately my little magpie died; I was absolutely heartbroken for it yesterday. I dont really understand why either, as the parents were always in the vicinity but i noticed that they were not coming down as often. Do they usually abandon young? It had all of its feathers but just didnt have the long tail as yet, would that mean it was too young to leave the nest? Do you think that maybe the parents didnt bother with it because there were people milling around the baby (not directly, just walking past it, as i dont think people realised there was a baby there)

    Im so sad for it as i was watching it all day and gradually saw it getting weaker and weaker and eventually it sort of crouched forwards and then fell to its side,which is when i went outside to have a look at it close up but after phoning the vets for advice and rspca there was nothing i could have done...thanks for the reply though; ill know to come on here more often now, thank you...

  • 0 27/05/2010 06:46 in reply to Kitty Petal
    Oh that's sad news, I'm so sorry. I wonder if the parents could tell it was unwell in some way? At a rescue centre I visited there was a barn owl who had been kicked out of the nest repeatedly by its parents. So it was taken to the rescue centre, where it developed into a big healthy bird, but as it grew one wing became deformed and it could never fly. It's as though the parents knew from the start that it wouldn't be able to survive and chose to focus efforts on the other chicks. Maybe the magpie family will have more success with their other youngsters. I hope the spring brings some more fortunate wild babies to your garden. L.