magpies

[WERDNA]

are magpies good to eat, ive got a freind who has trouble from them, and i dont want to kill them for pleasure so if there is meal at the end of it then even better,

[BorderReiver]

Don't know.

They are the same family as crows,so I doubt it.

Depends on just how hungry you are I suppose.

[Marts]

No personal experience but I have been told that you should treat them the same way as rooks and crows. - Generally that means taking out the breasts and chucking the rest (or making a stock from it)

As Bordereiver says - you'd need to be pretty hungry

[bambodoggy]

I've eaten magpie once (and only once, it was an old one and tasted horrid lol) the young may be more tasty but the older ones (that you are likely to be shooting at) will be tough and chewy like Jackdors, Crows and Ravens etc.

Bear in mind that all the above are carion eaters (they eat decomposing dead things) and therefore are prone to a lot of parasitic infection. As already advised I'd say only to use the breast meat and to ensure 100% that it's cooked very very well.

Also, you aren't shooting them for pleasure....they are a pest to your friend and therefore pest control should be the only reason you need....if this reason isn't enough then maybe they aren't as big a pest to your friend as you both think.

Hope that helps,

Bam.

[BorderReiver]

AS Bam says,you don't have to kill for for food.Even if they are not a pest to your friend,thay are a pest to the other birds in the area.

As well as carrion,magpies raid the nests of other birds and eat the eggs or the young.Since the reduction in the numbers of game keepers Magpies have reached silly numbers and are causing a lot of damage.

Kill a magpie,give a thrush a chance to rear it's young.

[JonnyP]

Magpies (always think thats a strange name for them) are one of my favourite large birds, highly inteligent and are only doing what nature intended, should we kill wolves cos they take those pretty deer.........
I did a poll on magpies a while back, have a look to see what people on here thought of them http://www.bushcraftuk.com/community...ead.php?t=9859 ..................Jon

[BorderReiver]

It's a question of balance Jon.

The wolves would limit their breeding to match the amount of food.

The magpie would wipe out the song bird population,then take to bins to feed themselves.We have screwed up the natural balance and I think it is reasonable to try and adjust it a bit.

I have never condoned killing for the sake of killing.

[JonnyP]

[QUOTE=BorderReiver]It's a question of balance Jon.

The magpie would wipe out the song bird population,then take to bins to feed themselves.We have screwed up the natural balance and I think it is reasonable to try and adjust it a bit.
QUOTE]
But that is the thinking of man, not of nature itself. We have loads of magpies round here, and this year and last, I have seen more thrushes than ever and as for blackbirds, loads of them. The magpie will never wipe out the song bird population, they haven't done so yet after millions of years.
I agree that we have screwed up nature, by taking over, but trying to re balance............Hmmmmmmmmm, thats a big subject, yes and no is my short answer. Lets say the magpies are killing off the thrushes, so we kill loads of magpies to readjust the balance, but what if those thrushes were eating rare snails. Nature is too big for us to just go in and do what we think is best on a whim.
Nature itself will adjust the balance.
I am now going to totally contradict myself by saying I do heathland management work on a volantary basis.............Lol......... .......Jon

[BorderReiver]

Aye,it's too big a subject to discuss on here.

My local Wildlife Society are clearing a large area of heathland and have even used a helicopter to spray off unwanted growth.Sounds horrific but the results are really worthwhile (from a human perspective).

Justifiable interference? I don't know.

[JonnyP]

Aye,it's too big a subject to discuss on here.

My local Wildlife Society are clearing a large area of heathland and have even used a helicopter to spray off unwanted growth.Sounds horrific but the results are really worthwhile (from a human perspective).

Justifiable interference? I don't know.

I don't know either mate................Jon

[BorderReiver]

Just realised how bad that looks.

They are clearing off non-heathland growth to restore the land to heath.

[Toddy]

Rooks are good eating but I don't have any recipes for magpies.
To prepare rooks you either take off the breasts (the skin is blue) or cut free from the backbone and joint them. Toss the pieces in flour, brown quickly in butter, fat or oil andthen simmer gently for an hour. The bones pick clean easily. The hearts are edible too, but for some reason the liver is *always* removed
If you want to make a pie or a bannock, cook the meat, remove bones, either add gelatine to the stewing stock for a pie or just keep the meat gently juicy before wrapping it up in bannock dough. You only need to cook the pastry or bannock now since the meat is already cooked.
Most of the recipes call for quite a lot of spice but I know that they used to be eaten with ground elder and and shellfish too to add flavour.
It's one of those meats that was served with rowan or juniper jelly.
Young squabs were poached whole.
Magpies eat similar things as rooks and crows, they're just more woodland than field feeders. Don't see why they couldn't be eaten. Be interesting to hear any reasons one way or another.

Cheers,
Toddy

[Chopper]

Did you know that the referance to black birds in the rhyme
"for and twenty black birds" actuall refers to Rooks and not Black birds.

[moko]

Nice reciepe Toddy. Not sure I'm going to try it but its still good to know. What about a cookbook BCUK style?
To get back to the main point, let nature run its course and only kill what you are going to eat. I'm not sure if pest control, regardless of how importantant it may be, is a bushcraft issue....unless you no otherwise of course?

[bambodoggy]

Nice reciepe Toddy. Not sure I'm going to try it but its still good to know. What about a cookbook BCUK style?
To get back to the main point, let nature run its course and only kill what you are going to eat. I'm not sure if pest control, regardless of how importantant it may be, is a bushcraft issue....unless you no otherwise of course?

Surely that depends on the sort of bushcraft you follow, to the smallholder who owns a small plot with enough crops on it to feed only himself and his family then a pest can be a real issue... and although maybe not the stereo typical RM style bushcrafter I'll wager many of his bushcraft skills are better honed and more often used then most part-time bushcrafters like most of us....unless you know otherwise of course?

I thought the main point was asking for ideas on how/whether to eat them anyway rather than a debate on whether to shoot them, think I may have knocked that a little of course at the start....sorry

Bam.

[Toddy]

I came across this older thread, but it's relevant and full of excellent info.

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/community...highlight=rook

Cheers,
Toddy

[Liath]

You'd have to get a young 'un, or the meat would be tough. Not a great deal on them either, and by the time you've prepared the meat, you've probably used up more calories than you'd get from the magpie

To save all the time consuming plucking, I'd probably gut the bird, take the head and wings off and cook it in clay - that way, all the feathers just come off when you crack the clay open. Definitely saves a job.

On a selfish note, If you do take the magpies, please could I have the primary wing feathers and tail feathers? (pretty please?!)