Neighbour feeding magpies.

Indeed.I don't want to harm them,them not encourage such a large number of this year's juveniles to stay in a group -squabbling and marauding around as DH and I have just seen 8 off then in our lawn a few feet away as we are having lunch.Without extra encouragement they hopefully will disperse and find their own patch to have their own young.As for not hunting near the nest-these are all young thugs from obviously this year's breeding season.And I have witnessed them hunting very close to where they congregate in the nearby trees.Anyway next time I see her I will diplomatically say so something.Even if she ignores it.
I've just asked a friend who runs a local naturalist society. His opinion.Don't harm but don't actively encourage and feed either.Then numbers sort themselves.Re songbirds feeding them is different.They are losing hedges and habitat and numbers need extra support.Interestingly he also doesn't agree with feeding urban foxes.Too many in one area leads to fighting over territories and some really nasty injuries.And numbers are increasing.Hedgehogs again a different story as numbers in such steep decline with traffic kill and habitat loss. So we are responsible for destroying habitats for some species and they can do with a little extra help.Whereas a magpie doesn't have to go far to find a squashed squirrel or a flattened hedgehog for lunch.His words !

Only a week ago two magpies was pecking a third really badly there were feather's flying everywhere and it was only young I went out there and gave them what for the young one was able to get away. Days later I would like to think it was him a magpie perched on the fence
with a big piece of wood in his mouth and left it on the post I would like to think for me as a gift, silly I know

I have wood pigeons waking me at 3/4am daily. They appear to have nested under my solar panels. They drive my family and I crazy each morning.

My 19 year old cat was mobbed by magpies after catching and killing one. He was hurt so badly he had many stitches all over him. A few weeks later he happened upon a seagull. This time he was taking no prisoners. He caught it, it was fairly amusing watching him try to drag it home. He was such a gentle loving cat with people.

I am not sure about feeding birds for this reason, even though we are now much more rural. How do you encourage song birds without feeding some of the more abundant larger breeds?

I see only magpies and pigeons on a piece of spare ‘grass’ ( scrub) near me. The last thing I would do is feed them. Would feed garden birds if I still had a garden and saw any.

I would explain how vile magpies are, I know that they are part of nature but there is a balance that is offset by human intervention, i.e. feeding and encouraging them. Same as feeding gulls! We have an issue with a lady down our lane who is feeding the foxes! We have an explosion of badgers and foxes!

I have feeders and yes, we get some magpies coming from time to time but overall the various tits, starlings, the odd squirrel, robin, blackbirds and thrushes and occasional parakeet are the main ones - and the wood pigeons of course which waddle around at the bottom to catch the left overs. This morning I opened the bedroom curtains to find an adult pigeon feeding a youngster on either side. I was mesmerised. It was incredibly windy and the branch was waving around like mad but they all clung on. Eventually the parent went to another branch but was obviously overseeing the youngsters who were trying to keep their balance. It was wonderful.

Shropshirelass, an elderly neighbour said that she feeds the fox cubs jam sandwiches! I just said it was a bad idea to make them tame and unafraid of humans as so many people hate them - they won't be safe. (She'll probably just carry on regardless.)

We can't blame magpies for the decline in songbirds. It would be convenient - but there's no evidence. It's us of course!

www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/advice/how-you-can-help-birds/where-have-all-the-birds-gone/is-the-number-of-birds-in-decline/

I have a lovely photograph of a squirrel sitting inside a squirrel proof bird feeder contentedly eating the nuts... trouble was he couldn’t get out again and started to panic when he saw me
I ruined the bird feeder cutting him out with wire cutters to free him