Hi
I’m in Melbourne and have a lot of native birds visit my backyard, but mainly Magpies.
In the last week the Magpies have started pecking at some Styrofoam fruit and vegetable boxes that have plants in them. At first I thought they were just cleaning their beaks but they’re aggressively digging into the walls of the boxes and I’ve seen some of them eat the Styrofoam bits.
Over past few days they appear to be increasing their pecking with up to four at a time going at it. Of the ten boxes they’re only pecking at two. I’ve only seen the females doing this but the males might be doing it as well.
They appear well feed, have plenty of fresh water and can be seen foraging in most of the front yards in the street.
A few questions:
Why are they doing this? Are they lacking something in their diet?
Is it harmful for them to eat it? I’ve read some people feed Styrofoam to hens but that strikes me as inherently wrong.
If it is harmful, is there any way to discourage them?
Ian
I'm not sure Ian, if it's harmful for them or not. My dogs eat stuff from time to time they shouldn't. When I asked my vet about it, he said: unless it has sharp edges or could get stuck in their bowl, it will come out the other end.
If the bits are not huge, they might just do that?
But why would they do it? I suspect there might be big fat worms calling from the inside of those two boxes, and the birds want to get to them?
Just an idea
M-L
Magpies mainly eat curl grubs, the white grubs that live in pasture or lawns. They may have detected curl grubs in the soil in the boxes.
good eyes Ian
i have see this myself with new plants that I have brought in pots, over the years from market garden etc they have white styrofoam balls in the soil , once planted they seem to gravitate to surface, to the birds and maybe even lizards - they look like spider eggs
which the adult birds, feed their noisy young ones
See it! Hear it!
Mid-North Coast NSW
My first thought was that there may be some insect, larvae or worm in the foam somewhere. Have you investigated this possibility, Ian?
My second thought was that the Magpies are gathering nest material but I guess it's not nesting time so that probably counts that out.
My third thought was that their natural food is in short supply & they find the styrofoam the next most palatable thing.
If what they eat isn't natural to them then there's the risk that it's harmful.
How to stop them eating or reduce their eating styrofoam? Hmmmmm. Put the boxes where there's lots of human traffic; if appropriate plant whatever is in the boxes; substitute boxes made from non-styrofoam; paint the boxes with glossy paint; provide a natural decoy food such as worms nearby.
Here endeth my thinking.
I remember seeing people on tv who have trouble with magpies attacking their garden hoses with their beaks, stabbing holes in the hose for no apparent reason. Maybe they just like the feeling of stabbing into soft plastic things.
Thanks for all the replies.
I should have been clearer about the size of the Styrofoam boxes they’re 45x30x15 cm with 2cm thick walls. The Maggies are pecking at it but mainly on the surface, they don’t appear to be trying to dig right through. I thought they might be going after salt from evaporated water?
Araminta: I’m worried that they will not be able to pass the Styrofoam bits. They do regurgitate “pellets” of grass and other indigestible matter from time to time, I’ll keep an eye out for any white bits.
Woko: They may be looking for grubs but they don’t appear to be trying to peck through.
The nesting idea is interesting. I took down a dead hanging plant last week that had a coconut fibre base, tipped out the dirt, left it in the backyard and they striped all the coconut in two days! I’ve also seen some Maggies having a tug-of-war with twigs. So they’re building something. A Styrofoam insulated nest is a funny idea. I found an old nest for a sparrow or starling woven out of audio tape the other day.
They’re well feed but there might be a lack of insects with all the hot weather and they can’t forage as much as they usually would. I might turn over some soil and let them do some gardening.
GregL: They love white grubs but they’ll eat just about anything. I saw one grab a bee, bash it’s stinger off on some concrete, then gobble it down. Cockroaches, earwigs, moths, they eat them all, the only thing they refuse are snails, slugs and slaters/woodlice.
Destructive aggression towards plastic things is a good explanation. One of the reasons for giving Styrofoam to hens is to reduce feather pecking. Maybe they’ve just gone a little crazy with the heat.
Ian
Cover the styrogoam with glad wrap or similar. It cannot be good for the magpies. We have probably all seen the pictures of sea birds stomach contents full of plastic. Styrofoam is indigestable and can only harm them. It is probably best not to use this for planting however convenient it is.