Possum has stolen my magpie's nest.

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timm
timm's picture
Possum has stolen my magpie's nest.

Hi,

I live in Canberra and have a friendly magpie couple living at my place.  Last year they raised a chick, which they booted out a number of weeks back. :(  For the last month the female has been busy building a new nest at the top of a pine tree in my backyard, about 30m high.   A little over a week ago I noticed one of her wings was sticking out at the shoulder and dragging along the ground.  I took her to a local vet and they said there was nothing wrong.  It was then I noticed a furry brown ball in her nest.

The female now spends half the day squawking and occasionally pecking at the ball, while the male sits in a nearby tree and does nothing.  The furry ball mostly ignores everything, but sometimes hisses if pecked at, which is how I identified it as a possum.  It only lives there during the day, and now only seems to stay up there every 2nd day or so.  On the days it's not there the female mostly seems to ignore the nest and behaves as normal.

How can I get rid of the possum?  I'm worried about the poor female, who's already missing an eye, one claw, and now has a weakened wing and spends little time foraging for food.  Will the male abandon her if she can't reclaim the nest?  Why is the male not doing his duty and defending the nest?  How can magpies be so deadly towards postmen but not able to scare off a stupid possum?

Thanks, Tim

Woko
Woko's picture

Hi there, Tim. I'm wondering if you've thought about letting Nature take its course. Native animals interact in all sorts of different ways & their species seem to survive quite well. Yes, some animals prey on others but the end result is usually a balance of populations.

You would be aware of the devastation whIch often occurs when humans, for whatever reasons, interfere in the environment's natural processes so could I suggest that you observe & learn about the interactions between the Magpies & the Possum. You are fortunate, indeed, to have such an event right where you can watch it. I'm confident Birds in Backyards members will be most interested to hear further from you about what eventuates. I certainly will be. 

Shirley Hardy
Shirley Hardy's picture

Hey timm! I wouldn't be too concerned for the magpies. Magpies usually will have a plan B for another nest site. My resident Magpies actually borrowed the resident Torresian Crows nest for a season to breed in. Your female magpie sounds like she's done some permanent damage to herself (her eye) and the probable reason why the male magpie is not doing anything sounds like she might be on her last legs. In which case he will not attempt to breed with her. And if that is the case, plus she spends little time eating, means after she eventually flies away (to die) he will be alone until he can find a new mate before next year's breeding cycle begins. My resident male magpie is 19-20 years old. He's had 2 female mates - not at the same time though. The life and death of magpies is interesting but sad when they die. 

timm... the real question is why would the male magpie want to defend it's nest after what happened to the female? It lost it's nest and may lose it's mate. The possum ain't budging. Time for the magpies to move on but the female won't. It's easy to replace a nest with a new one. But in this case the male magpie won't move on until the female has quit wanting the nest. She doesn't seem to know when to quit even after being injured. That does not make for a good choice for a partner. Magpies are usually much smarter than that, in my experience with them in my area.

As woko has said, let nature take it's course. The damage is already done. Possums need to breed too but in a bird's nest? That's just weird. I thought they bred in tree hollows?

Keep us posted as to what happens next, timm. And please don't get rid of the possum. 

P.S. Maybe the possum is just sleeping in the nest until it finds a hollow to retreat to? Is that possible?

I'm at Tenterfield, NSW. (Formerly known as "Hyperbirds".)

timm
timm's picture

The female's been missing the eye since I first noticed her over a year ago, which is why I started taking an interest in observing the local magpies.  I used to consider her the tougher and more dominant one, as she's larger and more bold/inquisitive, but lately she has been more subdued and the male is now the more active one.  I've always felt sympathy for her because of the eye, and now with a wing damaged and her nest stolen I feel even sorrier. :(

A lot of trees have been cut down in the neighbourhood recently so I can understand the possum acting up.  I'm thinking of getting a possum box to lure it down, but the tree's so tall I'm not sure it would notice and it seems quite content where it is now, despite the constant harassment from the magpie and occasional mobbing from noisy miners.

jason

A nest box would be a good guester. For any animal really that requires one if local trees have been felled recently. Try your library for Nest boxes for wildlife, by Alan and Stacey Franks. A small book with various shapes and sizes for various wildlife.  

I'm figuring its a ring tail up there sleeping in that nest.  I have found them sleeping in full sun on top of concrete fence pillars, large clay pots with little much in hot court yards, or on fairly open but shaded sheet tin with a few leaves as a bed. Protection from grown dwelling preditors seems to be the main theme as privacy as protection from the eliments don't seem high on their list.  Maybe try a shallow dish with drainage, with a bed of leaves, on a pole near folage for good access.

Perhaps as a one off good guester, a bit of apple in there as night falls to encourage a visit.  Poss won't need that if it likes your handy work, but it may speed the process up if it's going to work.  Then maybe your maggie girl may have another season in her.   

Ipswich Shire Eastern flanks

Woko
Woko's picture

Timm, did those removed trees have hollows in them? If so, that might explain the possum in the nest where it may have been forlornly looking for refuge in the absence of nesting hollows. And this would suggest that the possum will have no problem locating a nest box you might put up.

In any case, shame oh shame on whoever removed the trees, especially if they were indigenous species. 

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