Other foods you can serve include pasta, rice, toast, eggs, mashed potato, bones and other meats. Fruits may be also offered and some birds will eat them. Do not give your bird chocolate, coffee or avocado – these are toxic to birds.
Avocados should be avoided because some of its parts are toxic to birds.
Cheese and bread should be off limits to magpies too, she said. "I would say no to dairy products, and if you have to feed other treats [give magpies] a teeny-tiny amount of oats and maybe a teeny-tiny amount of nuts in miniscule proportions.
As such, if you'd really like to give the magpies a treat, try collecting bugs and worms from your garden to feed them, or purchase crickets from your local pet store. One way to feed magpies and complete a fun little project at the same time is by building a foraging tray.
Avoid: Feeding Magpies and other wild birds, as they are very good at finding their own food and can become sick if they eat old seed or processed foods like bread. Riding your bike near a nesting Magpie as they are more likely to swoop bike riders than people walking.
Berries and small fruits, including blueberries, raspberries, currants, blackberries, mulberries, beautyberries, serviceberries, sumac, holly, juniper, and viburnum are especially popular with many birds. Birds also enjoy other fruits such as oranges, plums, apples, grapes, cherries, crabapples, and prickly pear.
Magpies feed on small insects and animals that live on, or just under, the surface of the ground. A favourite is the scarab beetle, which is a major pest of garden lawns. Magpies will also eat frogs, small lizards, meat scraps and grain.
Interesting fact: It's true, magpies remember your face. They have excellent recall for faces and very long memories. So, if you've been swooped before, or even if you just look like someone they swooped last year, you're likely to get the same treatment again.
Magpies are 'like dogs'
"They will form very long friendships, like dogs," she said. "They will introduce their young [to you] and they will be the most charming birds. "Even during the breeding season you can come close to them because they know you'll do no harm."
Can Birds Eat Hardboiled Eggs? Hardboiled eggs can certainly be left out for the birds in your garden or fed to pet birds in moderation as part of their diet. If you have leftovers, there is no harm in leaving them outside for birds to consume; they will certainly appreciate the treat.
Deterrents for magpies
Half-full plastic bottles or CDs hung up in trees to scare the predators away. Magpies don't like the way light reflects from the surface. GuardnEyes scarecrow balloon, available from Dazer UK.
Avocados contains persin, which is toxic to the heart in several species, but not humans. All parts of the plant—skin, meat, pit, leaves—contain the toxin. The most common signs of persin toxicity in birds are collapse, lethargy, heavy breathing, and sudden death.
A lethal dose of avocado in budgies is approximately 3.5 grams, cockatiels 20-30 grams and canaries 2 grams. The adverse effects in birds have been as quickly as 15-30 minutes after ingestion. The first signs that owners usually see are weakness and depression, with fluffed plumage and a reluctance to perch.
This bird favors fruits of the avocado family, which it swallows whole before regurgitating the pits. In this way, the quetzal acts as a "gardener," helping to disperse trees throughout forests. Its diet also includes insects, small frogs, snails, and lizards.
Befriending a magpie
If you have magpies around your home or neighbourhood that you would like to befriend, the first step is to let them see your face from a distance, trying to make eye contact with the bird. Gisela says you could also try and temp them with a little magpie-friendly food to show you aren't a threat.
Natural predators of magpies include various species of monitor lizard and the barking owl. Birds are often killed on roads or electrocuted by powerlines, or poisoned after killing and eating house sparrows or mice, rats or rabbits targeted with baiting.
And since magpies can live between 25 and 30 years and are territorial, they can develop lifelong friendships with humans. This bond can extend to trusting certain people around their offspring.
"They suffer from high cholesterol if fed too much processed stuff," says Associate Professor Darryl Jones, deputy director of Environmental Futures Centre at Griffith University. "If you have to feed them, the best things are dry and wet cat and dog food."
Berries. Any type of berry that is safe for human consumption, such as strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries, are also safe for your pet birds to snack on. 1 As you might imagine, this can open your pet bird up to a whole new world of flavor combinations and variety.
Sunflower seeds are the fast food of the bird world, they really shouldn't make up any major portion of their diet and should only be offered as a treat to your bird – not a mainstay in their diet.
Do birds eat apple skin? The skin of an apple is perfectly safe for a bird to eat. However, it is a more sour taste than the sweetness of the apple, so some birds might eat around the skin while others will gladly finish the whole slice.
Lovebird Care
Seed lacks important vitamins and minerals so their daily diet should be supplemented with small portions of fresh fruit and vegetables such as apple, carrot, beans, peas, corn, broccoli and spinach. Never feed your Lovebirds lettuce or avocado, and always remove the seeds from apples.