25/10/2025
I had a call recently from a concerned member of public who had noticed the two fledgling babies of their street's resident magpie pair seemed to be injured. He had observed them limping and struggling as they tried to follow their parents around.
Now this time of year we get many calls about magpies not being able to fly and they turn out to be fledglings that are being happily cared for by their parents as they learn to fly, which usually takes around 2 to 3 weeks for them to be able to do once they leave their nests. As per usual I asked if the magpies' parents were there and was told yes, but there was definately something not quite right with the babies. So I headed straight over.
Upon arriving I immediately saw one of the fledglings who was lying on the grass looking a little lopsided. When its parents came near it stood up and started limping behind them but when they hopped off the curb onto the road to cross it, the baby struggled to hop down then couldnt get back up on the other side. Something was clearly wrong.
I went and picked him up and examined him gently. He really needed to get to a vet asap as from the looks of him he may have been hit by a car, though I couldnt see any blood, but I did suspect a broken bone or more.
I popped him in a carrier and looked around for the other fledgling. When I went around the corner I found it. Sadly deceased on the nature strip. Perhaps they had both been hit by the same car? I hurried to the vet.
The little surviving magpie was xrayed and assessed. Two broken wings and a fractured knee. Were they the result of a motorist mowing him down? No. Metabolic bone disease. He would have to be euthanised.
Metabolic bone disease (MBD) in birds is a painful, degenerative condition caused by a nutritional imbalance, most often from being fed human foods like mince and bread. This leads to soft or brittle bones, fractures, and deformities due to deficiencies in calcium, phosphorus, and Vitamin D3. Human foods (such as mince, bread, and other processed foods like ham) are nutritionally inadequate for magpies. These foods lack the necessary calcium that magpies get from their natural diet of insects, worms, and small animals.
Many human foods, particularly meat, have a high phosphorus content, which interferes with the body's ability to absorb and use calcium.
The problem can even occur if parents are fed human food by people, and they then pass on their poor diet to their young.
So clearly this little family of magpies were being fed by one or more of the people in the neighbourhood who 'loved' them. Sadly they actually killed them with their 'kindness'.
Since this case which was last week, we have also picked up a young currawong found unable to fly and with signs of MBD that ended up passing away before making it to the vet, and yesterday had a report of a very friendly blackbird, also showing symptoms and with what appears to be a broken wing.
Please do not feed wild birds. The best way to prevent MBD is to let them find their own natural food, as they are well-equipped to do so.
Support their natural diet instead. If you want to help, create a habitat that encourages their natural prey. This can be done by planting native plants, providing a water source, and creating safe spaces with mulch and leaf litter to support insect populations.