Corvids / Crows rescue??

[jimmy62alan 10]

Hi Everyone, I have not been on S/F for a while but I must change that. I was doing some googling about birds and stuff and there seems to be a lack of after hours rescue service for after hours for Corvids and other wildlife. If there are any after hours problems regarding any Corvids please drop me a line on my email that bleeps up on my mobile. [email protected]

Cheers ALAN

SHEFFIELD S25 4EQ

[Crosser 10]

Come and "rescue" the Magpies from around here which have all but decimated the small bird population! PLEASE!!!!!

[taxman 12]

Come and "rescue" the Magpies from around here which have all but decimated the small bird population! PLEASE!!!!!

 

Magpies have been proven to have no long term effects on songbird populations. Unlike modern farming methods, pesticides, increased traffic and lack of habitat.

[Longcol 602]

Magpies have been proven to have no long term effects on songbird populations. Unlike modern farming methods, pesticides, increased traffic and lack of habitat.

 

In the city I think it's all about habitat (modern farms using pesticides are a bit sparse on the S6 / S10 border a mile from the city centre).

 

When we moved in here 25 years ago magpies were the most common bird as there were a number of large trees but no undergrowth - often counted 9 or 10 across from our house.

 

As the area has become more established and there are more smaller trees - and especially more bushes etc we have seen a large increase in small birds - especially long tailed tits, but also wrens, robins, song thrushes etc - and a relative decrease in magpies - only see the odd one or two nowadays.

[Crosser 10]

Magpies have been proven to have no long term effects on songbird populations. Unlike modern farming methods, pesticides, increased traffic and lack of habitat.

 

Try telling that to the small bird population in our hedges just before fledging season.

 

Or maybe it's the pesticides which jump out of the floor to rob nests & kill fledging small birds?

 

I know... It's nature, and I can appreciate that, however there are progressively more predators than prey around here, something which has been happening for a number of years. (Where did all the sparrows go?)

 

---------- Post added 17-06-2016 at 21:45 ----------

 

In the city I think it's all about habitat (modern farms using pesticides are a bit sparse on the S6 / S10 border a mile from the city centre).

 

When we moved in here 25 years ago magpies were the most common bird as there were a number of large trees but no undergrowth - often counted 9 or 10 across from our house.

 

As the area has become more established and there are more smaller trees - and especially more bushes etc we have seen a large increase in small birds - especially long tailed tits, but also wrens, robins, song thrushes etc - and a relative decrease in magpies - only see the odd one or two nowadays.

 

 

We must have cross-posted...

 

The opposite is true in this area.

[Guest]

Try telling that to the small bird population in our hedges just before fledging season.

 

Or maybe it's the pesticides which jump out of the floor to rob nests & kill fledging small birds?

 

I know... It's nature, and I can appreciate that, however there are progressively more predators than prey around here, something which has been happening for a number of years. (Where did all the sparrows go?)

 

---------- Post added 17-06-2016 at 21:45 ----------

 

 

 

We must have cross-posted...

 

The opposite is true in this area.

 

There were Magpies back when Sparrows were more numerous, so the connection between Magpies and fewer Sparrows doesn't really stack up.

[taxman 12]

Well look at sparrows.

 

Where I grew up in Salford we had flocks outside in the dusty back yard who lived in the outside toilet. Never a magpie or a sparrowhawk to be seen.

 

Fast forward twenty years and the only places I see sparrows nesting is in the eaves of old terraced houses and the odd privet hedge. Thats because modern houses don't have eaves or outside toilets and most people plant Leylandii rather than natural privet. We have had an increase in magpies and sparrowhawks, and that's great because food chains are important. But they are not the primary factor in the loss of other garden birds. Human actions are.

 

Consider this. In the 70's when you drove anywhere you'd have to clean a million dead insects off your windscreen or visor. Nowadays you can drive for miles and barely hit a fly. All those insects used to be food for birds, they've been eradicated by pesticides, farming methods and the general spread of human beings. But hey, always easier to blame magpies.