Magpies

["Philip Veerman" <>]

David,

 

I tend to mostly agree with you but offer these thoughts. The answers will not always be the same for each family. In terms of chick survival, either way it doesn't matter much, the species is so abundant that any chick mortality will be less than the annual road toll. According to GBS results the magpie is our most stable species both long term and monthly. See also the book "Magpie Alert" by Darryl Jones (reviewed by me in CBN) or the one by Gisela Kaplan (although reviews of that book are very negative). I think the answers to your questions mostly will be: 1 Yes. 2 Continue as if he was the parent (magpies aren't lions) 3 That varies a lot according to the age and number of the nestlings and the quality of the habitat. However I think that the actual important question, given the intent of the action is: If the aggressive male is removed will the likely new male be as bad or worse as its predecessor in terms of attacks on humans? I see no reason to think it likely that the new bird would be less of a problem, so in many cases removal may not help. I still wonder whether aggression by males is influenced by the behaviour of the female.

 

Philip