is anyone else, especially those of you living outside the city, getting bugged by the Magpie lookalike birds? Black and white, smaller than a Magpie and with a constant high pitched trilling. We've got probably 2 dozen of the buggers round our property and they keep up their continuous noise most of the day, we even have them sitting on the window sills of the car and house screeching and pecking at their reflections. Plus they poop everywhere..... I can only guess it's mating season and they're trying to attract a partner, but I wish they'd do it somewhere else.

Chriss;

Do you leave any food ie biscuits etc lying around for the dogs, these birds seem to munch out on them, bicker and then poop everywhere to show their gratitude.

It’s taken the 8 years since I started to live in Isaan for the birds to slowly return. In 2001 there was hardly a one, near on wiped out by the locals method of hunting them using nets thrown over trees.

As far as I'm concerned they are most welcome in any, way, shape or form.

Bandung_Dero wrote:It’s taken the 8 years since I started to live in Isaan for the birds to slowly return. In 2001 there was hardly a one, near on wiped out by the locals method of hunting them using nets thrown over trees.

As far as I'm concerned they are most welcome in any, way, shape or form.

im with you on that one BD , the more wildlife i see in my garden the better , and that includes snakes . fancy living in the countryside and having to endure birds violating your space , whatever next !!!!!

Totally agree, it is a far better sound than a those three wheeled thingamys or the lorries et all and i don't mind the bird doos it's the dog type that gets my goat.

when I lived in Arizona I use to feed the birds pop corn they loved it they came from every were I am with you who want them on there property I love the sound of birds and I don't care if they crap on me.
I have a huge tree on my property they can use it for there nesting send them to me. I will even keep a supply of pop corn on hand and wild bird feed if I can find it

We've got probably 2 dozen of the buggers round our property and they keep up their continuous noise most of the day, we even have them sitting on the window sills of the car and house screeching and pecking at their reflections. Plus they poop everywhere..... I can only guess it's mating season and they're trying to attract a partner, but I wish they'd do it somewhere else.

It sounds a little bit more than the average twittering birds around the house, and obviously causing Chris more than a little irritation for him to have posted about them. Sounds like they'll be making formation kamikaze runs attacking your car windows next!

Chris, have you thought of getting a cat, (maybe a big sabre toothed one!) that might keep them at a little bit more of a distance. Though if they are bold enough and your cat small enough, they might start mocking or intimidating it!

You can get covers for the car, if that's a big issue, or maybe even a catapult.

Don't get me wrong, being bought up in the UK countryside I like to see all wildlife in the garden and have planted some shrubs, flowers etc to increase the amount we get. But these birds aren't just a couple of pairs nesting in a nearby tree and looking for food, as i said there's probably 2 dozen of the buggers, they are nesting, or so it looks, in the tree plantation behind our property. Perhaps the amount of insects etc we get in our garden, which is about 2 Rai in area, draws them in but there's no food matter round the house or car where they seem to gather.
No we don't leave any dog biscuits out as our's are indoor dogs, there's nothing for these damn birds round the house but they just seem to like hanging round it.... I must say the wife says put the cover over the car but I guess I'm too lazy......it's the bloody noise all day and the poop I have to clear off the patio every morning.......

I'm not an expert on migratory habits of Thailand birds but guessing that the problem will take care of itself in a few weeks or month as we get closer to the rainy season and they move on. I doubt that it's a Alfred Hitchcock horror show that has come home to roost but probably just another seasonal occurrence.

Nets? You can buy some cheap ones on Posri Road between Makro and AEK Udon on same side of the road. Can see them hanging as you drive by. Use long bamboo poles to hang the 3m x 10m nets where needed and bound to catch some. Had a neighbor at one of the houses we rented put up nets so he could catch some and sell them for pets or so he claimed. He screwed up and caught a favorite one of a Thai Army officer's wife. She marched down to his house with her daughter and proceeded to read the guy the riot act. The bird was released, post haste, and never saw the nets again.

Chriss
This should answer all your questions about the bird, read the bit about behavior and ecology, mentions attacking their reflections as a defense against other males...... Breeding between March and July so a few weeks to go yet.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oriental_Magpie_Robin