Reply With QuoteBow and arrow
an air air rifle will do but you don't have much area to shoot them in, you need an unpopulated backstop really.
mike
I live in an extended bungalow with a flat/dormer type roof upstairs. All summer I've been woken up at 6am with the feckers fighting on the roof. They are also causing mayhem in the garden chasing other birds away and just being annoying.
Anyone got any thoughts on getting rid?
The garden is a big one about 1/3 acre with the back third of it mature trees (about a dozen) up a gentle hill though there are neighbours both sides and a path behind a fence at the back of the trees.
I had thought about an air gun but I'm not much of a shot, indeed I have little interest in guns of any sort but sort of starting to see the point. In a residential area though. How hard would it be to hit them with a pellet and would that have any impact? Given the suburban setting something like a .22 is out of the question.
Other alternatives?
Bow and arrow
an air air rifle will do but you don't have much area to shoot them in, you need an unpopulated backstop really.
mike
Adopt a cat? Plenty of thread on here... seems all you need is good pet insurance.
Adopt an American dentist?
A decent air rifle with a well zero'd scope for close ish range should do the trick providing you take head / heart shots. Where are you located would be happy to help, PM me if you like.
I believe that magpies can be legally trapped in a larsen trap. Saves you sitting about all day with an air rifle only to miss or hit something you didn't mean to hit.
A shotgun is the tool for this job, with No 7 or No 8 birdshot, provided of course you can use it in such a way that no stray shot goes outside your property.
It's difficult to get a killing shot with an airgun on a bird the size of a magpie, and you will probably just give them a painful and messy wound. The shotgun will kill them instantly and humanely.
Is it legal so shoot them with an air rifle ?
Seagulls are more of a problem round here - is shooting them legal ?
There was a council program to oil their eggs - but that provoked a backlash from some parties (link)
z
[BTW - I do not (in any way) agree with the (frankly odd) views in the above link]
Last edited by zelig; 7th August 2015 at 14:17.
Link:Originally Posted by smalleyboy1
Magpies may be killed or taken by authorised persons, using permitted methods, for the purposes of:
- preventing serious damage to agricultural crops or livestock
- preserving public health/air safety
- conserving wild birds.
An authorised person is a landowner or occupier, or someone acting with the landowners or occupiers permission. It is not permissible to kill birds for sport, or for any other reason.
Last edited by PickleB; 7th August 2015 at 14:18.
What this effectively means is that you can humanely trap or kill magpies (and some other species covered by the general licence) on your own property. However, if you use a firearm to do it (and in this context that includes airguns) you must check that you're not breaking any firearms laws, and the best way to do that is to have a word with your local police.
For which purpose (of those allowed) in an urban environment?
- - - Updated - - -
What a load of tosh.
shotgun is not the tool for the job with this sized garden and neighbours either side.
airgun is totally purposeful to cleanly kill magpies at 30m .
Rather than going all out gun crazy (*) can't you just lay out pigeon spikes on the flat roof to stop them landing there - they'll sharp get bored and move on then.
(* unless you're trigger happy you'll probably spend all year shooting them, because as one lot dies and the territory becomes available another lot will fly in)
hire in a hawk or other large raptor
Good luck everybody. Have a good one.
Agreed definitely not a shot gun unless you want the Police there immediately. Magpies are territorial creatures of habit. Spend a few days observing where and when they congregate on your property and you will see this is a regular occurrence. You may want to advise your closest neighbours of the problem and that you will be trying to sort them at a certain time so they are aware. And then find a high vantage point so you are ideally shooting down into your garden and on to grass so that any shots have a minimal chance of ricocheting outside your boundary. Avoid shooting them in trees. Rotten meat can help to get them where you want them. A PCP air rifle like an airarms S 410 will be absolutely ideal, quiet accurate and powerful enough to despatch them humanely upto 30 - 40m. Make sure it is zero'd perfectly for the range you are shooting them. You will have to be very discreetly hidden away, they are very suspicious and observant birds and very easily spooked. You could also get good advice from the BSC British Association Shooting and Conservation and you can get airgun insurance for a year for about £50 once you join, which is excellent. Good luck. Edited to add always ensure that your pellets do not stray out of your boundary.
Last edited by Cat7; 7th August 2015 at 16:05.
A decent air rife will do the job, .177 or .22... just make sure the pellet does not leave the boundary of your property.
If you go on www.AirgunBBS.com there will be loads of people offering help in your area if you don't want to buy and airgun. I would help out but am in North London...
General airgun rule .177 feather .22 fur
Probably...if they're anything like the Jackdaws and Magpies around here they take a lot of dissuading. The reflector has disappeared from a neighbours TV aerial and the spike on the telegraph pole across the road is now bent to a non-deterrent angle of 60°.
That's a great idea someone who knows what they are doing ... hmmm.
The spikes idea won't work as there's a big gently sloping roof as well right outside the bedroom window. Could easily use the bedroom windows for shooting purposes onto lawn where they could be brought by bait. The propery isn't really overlooked as neighbours all round are down a slope and we have high hedges.
.177 or .22 air rifle. NOT SHOTGUN, please for the love of God not a shotgun.
Calibre won't really matter at short range just zero for the right approx distance.
Backstop is important, pellets leaving your boundry is illegal (unless you have permission from the owner of the land where the pellet would end up I suppose).
You don't have to tell your neighbours but I would so not to frighten them.
Protection of other species (songbirds) is a good reason for dispatch, "Doing my head in" isn't.
BASC give loads of good info on air rifles use and the general licence.
A six inch pigeon spike will easily stop a magpie landing on the roof - which seems to be the main problem.
A congregation of magpies will have a territory far larger than the OPs back garden so unless he is going to shoot every one of them they'll keep coming back, if he does shoot every last one a new congregation will form from the other congregations in the area that have limited breeding space.
Guns are fine, but know your enemy first
Incidentally I had a similar magpie issue years ago (feckers flying in from nearby woodland / tall trees), I encouraged squirrels to come into the garden with lots of squirrel nut feeders ... squirrels will defend their nut supply quite happily from magpies.
May be something like this? http://clearflightsolutions.com
We have a bunch of very noisy magpies in the garden. Unfortunately the cat is of no help. All the birds seem to take an active pleasure in mocking him :(
This thread is very interesting as I have often thought of shooting the seagulls. Was always under the impression this would get me into trouble.
Shooting seagulls will, shooting any corvids won't.
mike
Sounds like good advice to me...until someone objects. Sorry to be negative, but I suspect the OP doesn't need the hassle from neighbours or someone on the path beyond his property.
Have a look at a product called " bird free" it is used at some airports to discourage bird activity.
I'll try to find a link.
Oh there is no such bird as a 'seagull' 😆
Link....http://www.bird-free.com/
It's your own fault,you should have bought the Air Arms HFT 500 I had for sale last week. It loved magpies and woodies .
Magpies are a real nuisance, quite apart from the awful racket they make they do scare off (if not destroy) common garden birds (I know this to be the case because before the Magpie population exploded over the last couple of years, garden birds were numerous and, once the Magpies had been 'removed', the garden birds returned and their song could be heard again).
Pigeon spikes won't work unless you are prepared to cover the whole flat roof and all the roosts in nearby trees.
Shotgun will do the job but would be totally illegal.
Decent air rifle is the answer (as said, with decent zeroed telescopic sights and moderator).
Don't tell the neighbours unless you think they might want to participate.
Magpies as most Corvids are very clever birds, we to had a quite a few so I decided to thin them out. In the mornings they used to raid next doors bird table and attack any other bird that came with striking distance. So I used to wait and shoot one especially when there was a gang of them. When you kill one in that evironment, they go mad and after you have done that a few times they move on, we now have the odd skirmish, but just down one and off they go again.
Is killing necessarily a correct response to a first world problem?
A plastic owl perhaps?
I fitted one on the top of my boat and it reduced the seagull menace
Interesting how flexible ethics are here.
We have the beautifull bleu winged magpie; Cyanopica cooki, over here. Delightfull distribution btw.
They roam about in small flocks and lóve the cat food we put out on the rear patio.
If only óne would try that it would become fresh car food and thus they have rather loud mob strategy.
We only put out a limited amount and when they have had their fill give the cats a bit more.
Sure they make a mess and sometimes poop on the washing but we have a broom/mop and washing machine.
There is só little wild life and we simply enjoy these beautifull & clever birds.
Last edited by Huertecilla; 7th August 2015 at 19:29.
Grow up?
Care to explain what you mean?
I'm seeking ways to stop getting worken up at 5am every morning from birds fighting on my (thin, flat) roof.
Unless you are extremely well hidden an air rifle or shotgun will be of little use. Corvids are extremely timid with excellent eye-sight and you simply won't have the chance to shoot them. Additionally, shooting down onto a flat roof is going to be an issue for the roof. I suggest laying a fine mesh net about 2" to 4" from the surface. It doesn't need to be perfectly set up as long as it will survive winds. The birds will very quickly stop coming.
Last edited by Skier; 8th August 2015 at 20:42.
I've no idea about other options but this initial statement makes it clear to me that any kind of air weapon or firearm is out of the question.
Tell that to those that aren't coming back
If you don't want to shoot them yourself, there will be a pest control expert in your area who will dfo it for you, for a price obviously.
Nuke the site from Orbit, it's the only way to be sure.
Get up at 5am.
Try a decent water pistol, as already if they associate your roof with an unpleasant experience they will stop bothering you.
The plastic owl works well with pigeons, not sure about magpies.
If you go down the air rifle route, get some targets first and don't even attempt to shoot at them until you can get decent groupings at the distance you intend to shoot them at, you want them down as quickly as possible,and you don't want to wound one and have it land injured on neighbours property.
It may well be legal to shoot them, just remember your neighbours may not share your view - read the basc/general licence stuff and make sure you're covered.
You're welcome ;)
On the iRony..
The correct answer
Remember that you can be prosecuted if any pellet goes beyond your land, whether it is directly fired or an accidental ricochet.
Good luck if you go down the air rifle route. However I wouldn't be surprised if someone living nearby will be upset and complain even if what you do is legal. You may then end up with hassle of another kind. Does it happen all year round or is it seasonal with the young adults squabbling for dominance. I would suggest you shut your bedroom window at night and use ear plugs. Not ideal I know.
Corvids can be a real nuisance
have a look at this - about 1 minute in
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dx4nN0HkByg
Paintball gun?
Cheers..
Jase
The fine mesh option is the route I would take. You may have to free some dead intertwined birds initially but they'll catch on.
Put the heads of the dead ones on spikes around the place, that'll get the message across too especially when they look like this....
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