The Number One bird hate figure among humans, there seems to be no doubt, is the magpie, one of the handsomest of all. That is, as far as garden birds are concerned. The farmer would have other priorities. Bird Watch Ireland gave a list of garden bird rankings in their recent publication, which has a surprise in one way.
It lists the birds in 223 gardens sent in by their readers. No surprise that the top bird is the robin, with 99 per cent appearance, closely followed by Blue Tit, with 98 per cent, Blackbird 96 and the same for Chaffinch, with Green Tit close behind. Then there's the magpie which appears with 89 per cent. Following are the Greenfinch 87 per cent, and the Dunnock, which used to be called the Hedge Sparrow with 83 per cent. What amazed this reader is that the Song Thrush has a strong appearance of 81 per cent in the gardens surveyed.
In two known gardens, fifty miles apart, a song thrush is now as rare as a Goldcrest. No, much rarer. This may be a coincidence, or a regional quirk, but where the song of the Thrush of a morning from a treetop used to be one of the delights of bird life, now it is almost a thing of the past. The Wren was low enough at 58 per cent and the treecreeper, in the full list of 55 birds noted, came only number 50.
These birds were from gardens where some food and water was provided and the magazine noted that birds of prey were included, and that last winter "every Irish bird of prey was recorded, apart from the Owls." Kingfisher, Woodcock and Dipper were not included in the analysis as they are specialised feeders which don't take proffered food." The Heron appeared, no doubt after the garden goldfish. Last winter, according to the report, there was a particularly big influx from the continent, including Waxwing.
Word of warning. If you feed pigeons with the seed mixture they like, you have them for ever, become a slave to a dozen or so regulars, which perch on the roof and wait and wait and wait.