Why do people hate magpies?

Caramme

The magpies here are noisy, violent thugs who kill other birds. They also attack my cat and that’s enough for me to dislike them intensely, though hate is going too far.

Do you dislike your cat because it too kills birds, and mice etc.?

I am fascinated by the relationship between humans and the animal kingdom - we have sauch skewed and inconsistent values hen it comes to this.

I do think that nature is cruel - animals in the wild are constantly in fear of what might pop up and eat them. I absolutely accept that this is how nature is constituted - but I am not obliged to like it!

Did anyone catch the Antiques Road Show last night? There was a scent bottle from China, painted with 30 magpies; it was really delicate work.
A magpie is a symbol of good luck in China apparently.

I like their distinctive markings.. great looking birds

The magpies here are noisy, violent thugs who kill other birds. They also attack my cat and that’s enough for me to dislike them intensely, though hate is going too far.

Dislike magpies with a passion. I think of them as bully boys. They are predatory, colonise easily and are often aggressive in the spring when nesting. Not so bad now children wear helmets whilst on their bikes, but unpleasant to have them buzz extremely close when you venture outside or dare to check the mailbox. They certainly deter the little birds you’d rather to see.

Thre are exceptions, but magpies are not an exception.

FannyCornforth

Grandma70s

Birds don’t have any moral sense, so we shouldn’t hate them for eating smaller birds. They are only trying to survive.

My next door neighbours said similar when DH broke up the nest in our tree.
They changed their minds when the magpies started killing pigeons on their patio

It is illegal to destroy a nest.

If you see a single magpie greet him “morning Mr Magpie”

The Old Rhyme
One for sorrow
Two for joy
Three for a girl
Four for a boy
Five for silver
Six for gold
Seven for a story never to be told
And so on

They are still not welcome in my garden.

As with all nature, it`s dog eat dog, all species need to survive. Even we humans eat animals that would probably prefer to carry on living.
I don`t see many magpies round here, only ever one on it`s own.

Magpies have to eat too and they have young to feed.

I like to watch them, there are a lot of jackdaws and magpies where I live, and they seem to live peacefully together.

We have magpies around and enjoy watching their antics - they are clever problem-solvers.
However I was not so pleased when one caught a baby starling recently. We didn't spot what was happening until too late.
There is a whole bookful of ancient folklore and superstition surrounding magpies so I guess the dislike is built in to us Brits from an early age. I don't know how they are viewed in other cultures.

They are not called the hoodie of the hedgerow for nothing. Can't stand them and the havoc they create.

I read Wakenhyrst by Michelle Paver, and by the end I had become a magpie lover! Now I welcome them into my garden. ( It's a great read, too!)

I don't see Nature as cruel, rather as survival instinct. as one of my brothers used to put it, Nature in the raw is "eat or be eaten". Even plants 'fight' for space and nutrients.

Across my back garden there is a house with a flood light up near the barge boards. Every year the house martins would build there nest just above the flood light and repair and lay their eggs, only for the Magpies to perch on the flood light and eat the eggs or drag the little birds from their nests.

Nature is indeed cruel. My neighbour hates magpies - but has a cat!!

Grandma70s

Birds don’t have any moral sense, so we shouldn’t hate them for eating smaller birds. They are only trying to survive.

My next door neighbours said similar when DH broke up the nest in our tree.
They changed their minds when the magpies started killing pigeons on their patio

Birds don’t have any moral sense, so we shouldn’t hate them for eating smaller birds. They are only trying to survive.

I don't hate any birds. Magpies are quite beautiful and their behaviour is just how nature programmes them.
Many birds and animals are predators.
We are surrounded by birds here and they are all fascinating to watch.

I don’t hate or dislike them, tho don’t see them all that often.
We do get jackdaws sitting on our chimneypot but they don’t annoy us either.
On the other hand, damn pigeons!

Our local farmer has a Larson trap near to my house. When I said I thought it was cruel he said just see how many songbirds you will have in your garden now. And he was right. I do struggle with the pigeons that frequent my garden though. I tried to clean some of the poo on my driveway yesterday and then worried that I’d put bleach down and it might hurt the hedgehog. And they sit in the bird bath every day and poo in it so that has to be cleaned every day. I have to change my shoes every time I go in the garden because I can’t avoid walking in it and my dustbins are covered. I’m having a new bedroom window soon and have had to have two opening sides so that I can clean the sill every day. It’s really time consuming and I’m sure it’s a health risk.

I find them two noisy, but don't hate them. However, I am not bothered by them, as our cats send them packing.

I don't hate them, don't hate any birds in fact. Magpies can be very noisy though - and someone told me they are associated with bad luck too, so I guess if you believe in that kind of thing, you might not like them.

When our children were small we had blue tits nesting in the garden. We had watched the parents going in and out with food and had taken a real interest in them. We were lucky to spot the fledglings leaving the nest and we all stood watching them through the patio windows. All of a sudden a magpie swooped down and attacked and killed most of them, it happened so quickly, there was nothing we could do.
I suppose it’s just nature & all about survival of the strongest & fittest in the wild but it was a horrible thing to witness.

They are really predatory and violent.
I love all birds, but I do find that the magpies stretch my patience (we have loads of them, and they do create mayhem)

Freida Hughes has a beautiful book out about her rescue magpie George.
I heard her interviewed on The World Service this week.
(She is the daughter of Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes)