Pet owners beware. An unusually large number of dead magpies have been found in the Marshbank St. area adjacent to the recreation reserve. The magpies appear to have not been attacked by predators. Three properties in Marshbank St. have reported discovering over a dozen deaths in the last week or so. The birds appear to look like they have eaten poison of some kind.
The magpie in the image above was first seen by me about ten minutes before the image was taken. The bird was able to be approached and did not attempt to fly away. It appeared to be very unsteady. I came back to check on it and found it dying on the ground. I put it out of its misery. It was very distressing.
I have informed the police who have contacted the council.
Should anyone discover any dead magpies that appear to have not been attacked or hit by a vehicle please leave a comment and state your location in Yea.
Michael Minter
This is so sad! If this has been caused by human actions, I certainly hope those responsible are caught and held accountable.
We live on 3 acres in Alexandra and over the last fortnight there have been over 10 dead magpies – no markings of being attacked either. It’s very sad. Our resident magpies are fine however.
Very interesting to hear about similar problems in Alexandra. The situation seems to have improved in Yea. I have not seen any dead birds for almost a week now. Fingers crossed.
I live in Maitland NSW, I’ve located and reported numerous magpies I’ve found past away, these were healthy birds of good weight, also young birds. We’d captured security footage of 1 bird passing away without knowing, he just laid down and died, he was healthy, we’d seen him earlier in the day in the backyard singing,