Help: magpie chick

[Ketchup]

I need help.

The boys found a magpie chick (Pica pica L.) yesterday. It must have fallen from the nest some days ago. We took it in, dried it (it was raining over here) and put it in a box with straw. Force fed it succesfully on cooked chicken and gave (boiled) water through an old medical syringe.
Today the critter was much better and sat contently on our shoulders and attended dinner sitting on a chair, claiming food now and then, but too little, I'm affraid (aren't young birds supposed to eat massively?) It is tending its feathers and goes to sleep at the drop of a hat. But it doesn't take food spontaneously.

I think it could survive. Are there any Bushcrafters out there who have experience with bringing up magpies? I heard you can make them talk and they are quite loyal when tamed.

 

[janiepopps]

No experience I'm afraid, just wanted to say good luck and let us have pics soon!

j

 

[fred gordon]

The answer is St. Tiggyinkles! They have a great website and you can also phone them. They are very helpful and will give you advice. Good luck & keep us posted, its not an easy job.

 

[Ketchup]

Here they are.

Yesterday, a ball of misery

today: standby on the job

 

[C_Claycomb]

Well, I didn't know that they were having young so late. There are already families of magpies with fledged young around.

 

[Galemys]

Hi Ketchup,

there´s a chance that the parents or other related magpies are still around at the place the bird was found. If you got a cage you could get the bird up there to see if it is recognized by its kin. If so you can release it and chances are high that it will be fed by the parents again. If they are not around you have a new pet... They can be taught to ´talk´ and are highly intelligent birds (as most members of the Corvidae are, the book `bird brains´ by Candace Savage is a good one on the intelligence of the crow family).
Is it legal to have one as a pet in Belgium? I think it is prohibited over here in Holland.

Cheers,

Tom

 

[Singeblister]

magpies are not my favorite birds I have to witness them taking the blue tit young and any others they can find each year , we have about 3 nests of them near our house this year and they eat everything , but I suppose its just nature at work

 

[JonnyP]

Looks like you have a new friend there Ketchup.....Not sure on any advice, maybe try a mixed diet..? All the best....Keep us informed

 

[Ketchup]

Not so fond of magpies myself, they ruin al the litter bags in the streets every morning again, and they seem to have proliferated a lot in the last 20 years (so have crows, we have a whole herd feeding on spilled french fries at the foot of the Atomium, here in Brussels). But as I heard they make great pets, I permitted the boys to keep it. For the time being "Jack" as he's called now, is not much of a nuisance. Sits still most of the day watching us busying by.

 

[KAE1]

I had a Jackdaw for about a year, it was fully grown but I found it with a damaged wing. I used to feed it tinned cat food, seemed to work but not sure if it was ideal.
I guess he must like raw eggs!!! Lots of very young creatures do well on hard boiled egg yoke.

 

[Galemys]

Found a nice quote about crows:

´If men had wings and bore black feathers,
few of them would be clever enough to be crows.´

Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, Mid 1800´s

Tom

 

[Ketchup]

Spanish wisdom:
"cria cuervos y te sacaran los ojos"
(raise crows and they will pick out your eyes)

Is there nobody out there who has experience with growing magpies?

 

[janiepopps]

Unfortunately Ketchup, they are seen as a pest down here too for the same reason you mentioned above with crows (they peck out the eyes & tongue of sheep in distress)

The local farmers use Larsen traps (sp?) to trap and kill them, the one kept in the trap as bait is often fed cat food on a piece of bread if that helps at all (although I dont think this supposed to be a balanced diet leading to a long and healthy life if you catch my drift...)

Hows he doing?

j

 

[Singeblister]

what about meal worms from the pet shop ? or they sell wax worm maggots I used to feed my Lizard on em , dont think they would do it any harm

 

[BobG]

Feed it...

























...to a cat.

 

[Ratbag]

.... For the time being "Jack" as he's called now, is not much of a nuisance. ....

I think one slang term for them here is "Jake", rather than Jack.

Not my favourite birds though, especially as the local farms are mostly sheep farms. Still, they only do what's in their nature...

Rat

 

[Beer Monster]

As Fred Gordon said. St Tiggywinkles is a good bet. They have a fair amount of info on their website. See here about rearing orphan birds.

To quote them:-

Crows, Magpies and Seagulls
These will eat copious quantities of puppy food or other meat products. Be very careful not to imprint these very intelligent birds. Keep human contact to a minimum, and when you feed them, use a spatula or tongue depresser without picking the bird up.

They also reccomend the book "Practical Wildlife Care" by Les Stocker (ISBN: 140512749X) see here at Alana Ecology.

Hope that helps.

 

[Ketchup]

We're shattered.

We truely had a new friend at home and he stayed with us for three weeks without any problem. I was amazed how much trust this little animal had in us all, accepting our shoulders or lap as a resting place where it sat for hours, playing with my ear ans spcs, pulling my hair. It never got startled or upset by noises or children's behaviour. It knew no fear! We all grew really fond of this bird, the only drawback being the droppings. Then again, if you keep a wild bird in the sitting room... It started to fly during the last week and was feeding autonomously for more than one week.

But last saterday all went wrong. As the bird would wake up the boys at about 5AM in the morning, and as we had a late birthday party for our elder son, we decided to let it sleep overnight in an old birdhouse we have at the back of the house. It had already spent some afternoons there when we were away shopping, without any problem.

On Sunday morning though, we found jack bleeding and with two broken wings. It died a day later. What happened, we do not now. There were fire works here for the local "Couleur café" festival in this part of Brussels, or maybe a cat passed by and made it panic and fly itself to harm against the wires of the cage?
What is sure that we never witnessed any panic or distrust in that bird at any time earlier.

Anyway, it's over. The boys burried it in the garden.

We will keep a warm memory of these three weeks, I have a completely different view of magpies now.

 

[Tantalus]

S o r r y to hear

I always have had a fancy for a pet crow or a magpie myself.

Seems you got over the most difficult bit of the rescue too.

I feel for you, losing any pet is always difficult.

Tant

 

[KAE1]

Bad luck mate, sounds like it got panicked or stressed and self harmed against the cage. You're kids will have learn't a bit so all not lost.