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Description
It is a never ending battle.
And it happens every year.

Every year we put out food for the birds.
Because we are oh so kind.
And they have it tough during the winter.
And why not help them a little?

Then every year we realise there is a thing called a magpie.
The magpie is a bird.
Right?
No one could argue against that.

But please understand, the food is not for the magpie.
It is for all the cute little sparrows and finches.
Not the magpie.
Never the magpie.

Thus begins the war of the birdseeds.
And the mental arithmetic of “how can I fill the bird feeders, and at the same time, make sure absolutely none of it goes to the magpies?”
Be it blocking the entire feeder off in chicken wire or hiding it, or what ever is needed...
no effort is to big it seems.

No matter how this battle goes,
(Hint: we are loosing,)
One thing seems clear:

For some reason we absolutely hate magpies.
We view them as rude thieves, who will steal the food out the beaks of other birds.
And well, there certainly is some truth to that.
If you don’t secure the food properly, the magpies will have it all.

And when it comes to magpies, “securing properly” is an uphill battle.
A couple of days and they will have figured out your tricks.
And broken trough all your efforts.
Bird feeders is one thing.
Give them a split second opportunity, and they will have opened your trash bags, spreading the contents all over the place.
This mess will be your fault.
You didn't close the trash bin properly.
You left a half centimetre gap.
Your fault.

Which brings us to the heart of the problem.

The magpie knew, you see, that in trash bags, there is often food scraps.
It had learnt that.
It remembered.
And it knew what it needed to do to get to it, as soon as there was a chance.
It was intelligent enough for that.

We view them as rude. Since they seemingly cannot keep away from our stuff if their life depended on it. But really what divides them from the other birds isn’t “wanting our stuff”. It is “being intelligent enough to get to it”
That is a little bit to close to home.
Makes us uncomfortable.

Description
It is a never ending battle.
And it happens every year.

Every year we put out food for the birds.
Because we are oh so kind.
And they have it tough during the winter.
And why not help them a little?

Then every year we realise there is a thing called a magpie.
The magpie is a bird.
Right?
No one could argue against that.

But please understand, the food is not for the magpie.
It is for all the cute little sparrows and finches.
Not the magpie.
Never the magpie.

Thus begins the war of the birdseeds.
And the mental arithmetic of “how can I fill the bird feeders, and at the same time, make sure absolutely none of it goes to the magpies?”
Be it blocking the entire feeder off in chicken wire or hiding it, or what ever is needed...
no effort is to big it seems.

No matter how this battle goes,
(Hint: we are loosing,)
One thing seems clear:

For some reason we absolutely hate magpies.
We view them as rude thieves, who will steal the food out the beaks of other birds.
And well, there certainly is some truth to that.
If you don’t secure the food properly, the magpies will have it all.

And when it comes to magpies, “securing properly” is an uphill battle.
A couple of days and they will have figured out your tricks.
And broken trough all your efforts.
Bird feeders is one thing.
Give them a split second opportunity, and they will have opened your trash bags, spreading the contents all over the place.
This mess will be your fault.
You didn't close the trash bin properly.
You left a half centimetre gap.
Your fault.

Which brings us to the heart of the problem.

The magpie knew, you see, that in trash bags, there is often food scraps.
It had learnt that.
It remembered.
And it knew what it needed to do to get to it, as soon as there was a chance.
It was intelligent enough for that.

We view them as rude. Since they seemingly cannot keep away from our stuff if their life depended on it. But really what divides them from the other birds isn’t “wanting our stuff”. It is “being intelligent enough to get to it”
That is a little bit to close to home.
Makes us uncomfortable.