Magpies!

Thanks folks for the suggestions so far - I have just watched two magpies at our bird table which is the type with a little roof over !!! We have lived here since August and have had the magpies plus the other birds around the whole time so perhaps they just tolerate each other but I know magpies steal the eggs and young so will persevere! The cage looks like a brilliant idea - thanks again
Happy new year to you all

I'm sure a friend of mine had a bowl of seed on the ground with a sheet of glass over it; I couldn't believe that the small birds would go into such a claustrophobic place, but they did.

Bagitha, that is such a good idea! Have ordered a mesh guard and a ground feeding table.

One fat pigeon can clear our bid table in half a minute flat!

Thank you.

Lets face it, the magpies eat their eggs and nestlings so why wouldn't they scare them off.
My DH is keen feeder of birds. The general mixed seed bird feeder is in front of the house (feeders are I should say)
There we get a wide variety including magpies, crows, woodpigeons, pigeons, collared doves, starlings, greenfiches, wagtails, and lots of goldfinches etc etc, some of which clean up the ground (thanks guys). In the back garden only nyjer seed and peanut feeders and only sparrows, bluetits starlings and goldfinches - but the bigger birds rarely visit. I think they nip to the pond to have a drink maybe in dry weather. Best birds are spotted woodpeckers on the peanut feeders and the occasional sparrowhawk, which is welcome to scare anyone any day of the week in my book.

In my last garden I used a "ground guard" to protect small birds from larger ones. It's like a cage that sits on the ground. The little birds can get in but the big ones can't.

www.birdfood.co.uk/product_details.php?area_id=2&group_id=18&nav_id=172&prd_id=1038

Now I use it to protect my parsley from rabbits and deer.