When we attached tiny, backpack-like tracking devices to five Australian magpies for a pilot study, we didn’t expect to discover an entirely new social behaviour rarely seen in birds.
Our goal was to learn more about the movement and social dynamics of these highly intelligent birds, and to test these new, durable and reusable devices. Instead, the birds outsmarted us.
As our new research paper explains, the magpies began showing evidence of cooperative “rescue” behaviour to help each other remove the tracker.
While we’re familiar with magpies being intelligent and social creatures, this was the first instance we knew of that showed this type of seemingly altruistic behaviour: helping another member of the group without getting an immediate, tangible reward.
Testing exciting new devices
As academic scientists, we’re accustomed to experiments going awry in one way or another. Expired substances, failing equipment, contaminated samples, an unplanned power outage – these can all set back months (or even years) of carefully planned research.
For those of us who study animals, and especially behaviour, unpredictability is part of the job description. This is the reason we often require pilot studies.
Our pilot study was one of the first of its kind – most trackers are too big to fit on medium to small birds, and those that do tend to have very limited capacity for data storage or battery life. They also tend to be single-use only.
A novel aspect of our research was the design of the harness that held the tracker. We devised a method that didn’t require birds to be caught again to download precious data or reuse the small devices.
We trained a group of local magpies to come to an outdoor, ground feeding “station” that could either wirelessly charge the battery of the tracker, download data, or release the tracker and harness by using a magnet.
The harness was tough, with only one weak point where the magnet could function. To remove the harness, one needed that magnet, or some really good scissors. We were excited by the design, as it opened up many possibilities for efficiency and enabled a lot of data to be collected.
Read more: Magpies can form friendships with people – here's how
We wanted to see if the new design would work as planned, and discover what kind of data we could gather. How far did magpies go? Did they have patterns or schedules throughout the day in terms of movement, and socialising? How did age, sex or dominance rank affect their activities?
All this could be uncovered using the tiny trackers – weighing less than one gram – we successfully fitted five of the magpies with. All we had to do was wait, and watch, and then lure the birds back to the station to gather the valuable data.
It was not to be
Many animals that live in societies cooperate with one another to ensure the health, safety and survival of the group. In fact, cognitive ability and social cooperation has been found to correlate. Animals living in larger groups tend to have an increased capacity for problem solving, such as hyenas, spotted wrasse, and house sparrows.
Australian magpies are no exception. As a generalist species that excels in problem solving, it has adapted well to the extreme changes to their habitat from humans.
Australian magpies generally live in social groups of between two and 12 individuals, cooperatively occupying and defending their territory through song choruses and aggressive behaviours (such as swooping). These birds also breed cooperatively, with older siblings helping to raise young.
During our pilot study, we found out how quickly magpies team up to solve a group problem. Within ten minutes of fitting the final tracker, we witnessed an adult female without a tracker working with her bill to try and remove the harness off of a younger bird.
Within hours, most of the other trackers had been removed. By day 3, even the dominant male of the group had its tracker successfully dismantled.
Read more: Cable ties probably won't stop magpie attacks – here are a few things to try instead
We don’t know if it was the same individual helping each other or if they shared duties, but we had never read about any other bird cooperating in this way to remove tracking devices.
The birds needed to problem solve, possibly testing at pulling and snipping at different sections of the harness with their bill. They also needed to willingly help other individuals, and accept help.
The only other similar example of this type of behaviour we could find in the literature was that of Seychelles warblers helping release others in their social group from sticky Pisonia seed clusters. This is a very rare behaviour termed “rescuing”.
Saving magpies
So far, most bird species that have been tracked haven’t necessarily been very social or considered to be cognitive problem solvers, such as waterfowl and raptors. We never considered the magpies may perceive the tracker as some kind of parasite that requires removal.
Tracking magpies is crucial for conservation efforts, as these birds are vulnerable to the increasing frequency and intensity of heatwaves under climate change.
In a study published this week, Perth researchers showed the survival rate of magpie chicks in heatwaves can be as low as 10%.
Importantly, they also found that higher temperatures resulted in lower cognitive performance for tasks such as foraging. This might mean cooperative behaviours become even more important in a continuously warming climate.
Just like magpies, we scientists are always learning to problem solve. Now we need to go back to the drawing board to find ways of collecting more vital behavioural data to help magpies survive in a changing world.
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Adam Cardilini
Lecturer, Environmental Science, School of Life and Environmental Science, Faculty of Science, Engineering and Built Environment, Deakin University
This is incredibly interesting. Thanks for sharing!
It seems to also present a case of a somewhat round about negotiation of consent. When we put on trackers/flags/rings we try to make them as unobtrusive as possible but can’t tell exactly how annoying they are. These magpies have provided a great example of agency in removing the trackers.
This brings new ethical considerations to the work. Do you try to fit newly designed trackers onto individuals who clearly prefer not to ware them or figure out an alternative tracking method? For magpies, will future animal ethics applications take into account the preferences shown here?
Dominique Potvin
Senior Lecturer in Animal Ecology, University of the Sunshine Coast
This is a great point. There are a lot of studies out there trying to see whether animals behave differently when trackers are placed on them. Some seem completely undisturbed by the trackers, others appear to be highly affected (another reason for pilot studies like this). I do think it’s an important consideration, and it’s one that is informing the continual improvement in size, weight and shape of these devices.
Seán McNally
It does appear concepts from the social sciences may have a role in non-human animal sciences. Hopefully, we will also get more ideas flowing into the social sciences. We may arrive sometime in the future where the Humanities need renaming. :)
Marc Smith
Aren’t those studies looking at only one aspect and thereby missing half the story? Animals not behaving differently themselves is one thing, but what about the behaviour of other animals towards the animal with the tracker? For example, does it decrease the mating chances of a tracked animal? Do they become more vulnerable when it comes to predators? Does it affect their social status? The tracked animal might be completely undisturbed by the tracker itself, yet suffer from negative consequences.
Dominique Potvin
Senior Lecturer in Animal Ecology, University of the Sunshine Coast
All these interactions are often also the focus of pilot studies. Survival, behaviour, social interactions, etc (for example, this is why trackers aren’t bright red!). Even things like physiology can change (higher energy expenditure), regardless if the behaviour doesn’t. It’s a complex story and one that is ongoing - the benefits and risks always have to be weighed and considered!
David Smally
Hi Marc,
There was a fascinating study on some African birds and sexual selection these birds (the males) have these tails about 3 times their body size and like peacocks are probably unhelpful re-predation so the hypothesis was these were an example of sexual selection so after checking the genetics of a generation chicks and determining who dad’s were and who was missing out they captured these birds before the breeding season and cut short the tails of the dominant males and super glued them onto the least successful males and indeed the breeding success immediately changed in favor of the fake longer tailed individuals a bit like shoulder pads.
Marc Smith
Truly fascinating, thanks for sharing.
Bruce Longhurst
logged in via Facebook
“this is why trackers aren’t bright red!” hmmm Yes, several years ago I bought a pocket camera with an excellent macro/micro ability. The model (at the time) only came in a shiny deep red (possibly very fashionable ?) a most annoying colour, it catches the attention of humans, so surreptitious observation becomes difficult (or dangerous depending upon the human). On the macro setting, the moment you get close to an insect it starts to display agitated behaviour and potential photography has to be shelved. Now that the machine is out of guarantee I plan to spray it with a matt grey undercoat. The camera manufacturer is very well known but its design team obviously spend their entire lives in an office without any recourse to real life.
Tony Jacques
My wife and I once observed an adult magpie “spanking” a younger one with its wing after the young one failed to negotiate a mesh barrier. After the “spanking” the adult bird demonstrated the way through the mesh and then led the young one through. The whole exercise took over 5 minutes.
Richard Haywood
One shouldn’t be surprised the magpies want to get trackers off them. How many animals choose to have artificial items attached to their bodies? Some do like humans wearing jewellery and clothes, but I suspect most don’t. Hence the reason why wrass clean parasites off fish, and Homo sapiens take ivermectin.
Dennis N Horne
One way of taking the youngster under its wing.
Dominique Potvin
Senior Lecturer in Animal Ecology, University of the Sunshine Coast
It’s true - some animals seem not to mind. Others behave very differently with trackers on, and can’t seem to tolerate them. This is one reason we use pilot studies, to make sure that the animals themselves aren’t disturbed by our actions. It seems these magpies weren’t a fan of the trackers, and used their amazing brains to figure out how to get them off each other. If they couldn’t, even if they were showing signs of disturbance, we would have aimed to take the trackers off as soon as possible. It’s an ethical consideration as well as a scientific one (no one wants to track something that’s behaving completely unnaturally because of a device)!
David Smally
I repeat I love these birds!
David Smally
Indeed small and streamlined as these trackers are they would be felt aerodynamically. Look at us humans people will wear skin tight clothes going for a weekend ride on their bike possibly taking 1/10 a second off a km and yet we must notice the difference. At the scale of a magpie this would be a big aerodynamic penalty
Richard Last
Yes, aerodynamics are extremely important to a magpie.
I am very concerned that this wasn’t taken into serious account when designing the tracker. Currently, here in Tasmania we find our local magpie gangs in a turf war with competing groups. They are having numerous free-air bouts of, ‘biffo & peck’. Our house seems to be on a border of territories so we observe a lot of this behaviour about now. Having even a,‘small’ device fitted to the back of a defending bird might be the difference between life and death.
While I understand the need for research that may eventually help these birds, I am very surprised that an attempt at tracking was even considered with such a bulky apparatus.
David Smally
Hi Richard,
The device was quite small. As I said the crows that were being studied in Griffith Uni had numbered round disks tied to the upper wings (probably zip tied around the main flight feathers). These would have been at least 5cm across. on both wings, this is important as it would impact aerodynamically even more to spoil lift on one wing and not the other. But you could read the tag numbers if it was not too far away (the point). By comparison these seem small. I play with micro-controllers and these seem smaller than what I play with. I’d estimate the weight to be in the order of 5 grams. That’s still not nothing the bird would weigh maybe 300 grams? so like running carrying a liter of milk? Not a problem normally but if you were running away from a lion you’d certainly not hang onto it. Likewise while fairly aerodynamic again its not nothing. In flying it takes 1kg of thrust to lift 2 kg of lift in the sort of ultralight aircraft I fly, these guys are more streamlined but they loose some of that this this rig. So they are paying a small aerodynamic and a small weight cost.
I’d say yes I agree. But if what is learned saves many more birds and I’m happy to eat chicken once a week then I can’t complain here. But yes it will have some impact the smaller the better and they seemed to have gone to some efforts to reduce the cost to the magpie.
Dominique Potvin
Senior Lecturer in Animal Ecology, University of the Sunshine Coast
As a reference, the tracker weighs less than 1 gram. :)
David Smally
Wow! That is amazingly light.
Stephen Davis
Stephen Davis is a Friend of The Conversation
I have always love magpies, this has elevated them even further. Too bad about your research, I know it was with the best intent, but 3 cheers for the birds.
Dominique Potvin
Senior Lecturer in Animal Ecology, University of the Sunshine Coast
That’s our feeling as well!
David Smally
Are you in the process of designing new trackers or are you convinced you’d be causing too much harm putting them on (given they have gone to lengths to remove them).
I love the technology by the way, great idea.
Charles Walter
Slightly off topic, but relevant.
A bunch of magpies spent some time attacking a pile of stainless steel wire offcuts in our factory yard and eventually removing a substantial quantity for their nests.
Nothing like a more permanent nest ready for next breeding season.
Dominique Potvin
Senior Lecturer in Animal Ecology, University of the Sunshine Coast
Charles, you may be interested in this other article I helped write last year…!
https://theconversation.com/headphones-saw-blades-coat-hangers-how-human-trash-in-australian-bird-nests-changed-over-195-years-164316
David Smally
And rust free!
Victor Wall
Just issue fines for removing tracking devices. Works a treat on humans. Thanks for the story.
Dominique Potvin
Senior Lecturer in Animal Ecology, University of the Sunshine Coast
Haha! Maybe if it were a correctional device, hm… I wonder what they would pay their fines in? I’m not sure I would appreciate receiving payments of grubs.
Maureen McInroy
Five minutes of magpie warbling would be a wonderful payment.
David Smally
No fashion is the thing perhaps make them brightly coloured, they may treat them as bling then ;)
Sandra Cochrane
logged in via Google
Fabulous, fabulous article, thank-you!!!
Thinking about the maggies doing this does make me smile but after reading about the impacts of CC on them, I hope you find an acceptable alternative for them soon.
It’s a great shame such an ingenious system didn’t work. As I listen to the maggies sing right now, I think they might help you out, if only they knew what you were up to.
Thank-you too for the great video and for your work with these much valued neighbourhood friends :-)
Dominique Potvin
Senior Lecturer in Animal Ecology, University of the Sunshine Coast
Thank you, Sandra. If only we knew how to just interview animals and ask them what was going on, my job would be much easier!
Danny Scott
logged in via Google
The video is a part of a collection by a registered wildlife carer :https://www.youtube.com/c/TheMagpieWhisperer
Danny Scott
logged in via Google
Perhaps my favourite YouTube video :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vn5sHpp3Ks
Sandra Cochrane
logged in via Google
Thanks Danny. I’ll definitely watch them.
Chris Saunders
Huh, the maggies like their privacy. They will call you if they want you to see something.
Dominique Potvin
Senior Lecturer in Animal Ecology, University of the Sunshine Coast
It seems so! Maybe they don’t want us to know who’s been doing all the swooping…
David Arthur
David Arthur is a Friend of The Conversation
I wonder if there’s a way of habituating young magpies to accept trackers as “normal” wear? If magpies can breed in captivity then perhaps the family of magpies could learn to accept the trackers as personal adornment - although that might leave them exposed to accepting the presence of parasites.
Dominique Potvin
Senior Lecturer in Animal Ecology, University of the Sunshine Coast
We did have 2 trackers on juveniles, these were in fact the first birds to be helped. Any younger and the trackers would likely be too heavy. It’s a conundrum!
David Arthur
David Arthur is a Friend of The Conversation
Could nestlings be fitted with some miniscule “bling”?
I guess it’s easier to accustom humans to having things attached to their bodies because we are wrapped in clothing as infants.
David Smally
Yes maybe 3D print a mini version that was hollow and light?
Julian Edgar
logged in via LinkedIn
Wonderful, fascinating article - and well-written.
Graeme Martin
You clearly need to engage a fashion consultant.
Clare Valsom
What a wonderful article.
As a longtime observer of Magpies I am not surprised at all. They are incredibly intelligent and curious, and of course social. I do wonder though whether they were actually rescuing each other, or just being inquisitive about their tracker.
Regardless, it is evolution happening in front of our eyes. If this was a wild situation, the mob that takes off parasites or other nuisances off each other are more like to survive.
Dominique Potvin
Senior Lecturer in Animal Ecology, University of the Sunshine Coast
It did occur to us that it might be curiosity, but to take off the tracker was actually no mean feat. They would have had to “test” points with their bill all along the harness, until they found the 1mm section underneath that enabled it to come off. Tenacity would have been key! Rescue behaviour like this seems much rarer than you might think, especially since the “rescuing” bird didn’t have a tracker on themselves. It is intriguing, though!
Alan Luscombe
Lovely article. Magpies are awesome. After reading all the great info about them on TC I stop and whistle to them, let them remember me and my child. Haven’t been swooped for years 😄
Dominique Potvin
Senior Lecturer in Animal Ecology, University of the Sunshine Coast
Great strategy!
Shane Baker
I understood that altruism had been observed in magpies in Canberra. (Sorry, I have no citation!)
Dominique Potvin
Senior Lecturer in Animal Ecology, University of the Sunshine Coast
Altruism can occur for sure! Rescue behaviour is quite rarely observed, however. :)
David Smally
Perhaps some magpies are just jerks? ;)
Again I’ll say this a second time this is one of the best articles I’ve read here in a good long while. Fascinating, full of joy in nature inspiring. Wonderful job and I hope you get to keep working in this field as long as you wish. I met a bird researcher (a friend of my wifes) used to work with crows at Griffith Uni (I imagine you’d know him) fascinating bloke they had crows with coloured tags tied to their upper wings with numbers on. I’m sure it helped their observations but as a recreational flyer I knew it would also play havoc with their lift. Nice to see you guys minimizing the impact as much as you can. Keep it up you’re on the right track with the technology I think.
David Smally
Man I love Magpies, I even forgive them swooping me on my bike on the way to work!
Out of interest what did you use to build your device around an little Arduino or some other micro-controller? I love that this stuff is so available now and we see you guys using them in such a clever way. Pity the magpies were up to the challenge ;)
Dominique Potvin
Senior Lecturer in Animal Ecology, University of the Sunshine Coast
Thanks David! We made a custom design that took us quite a few months to get ‘just right’, with testing etc regarding the magnetic system. We worked with “Wild Spy” - a local company that helps design and create technologies for wildlife tracking and study.
Wal Muhleder
I was a bit puzzled by that WA research referred to in the article. Magpies breed in late winter to spring. Their chicks are long out of the nest and grown up enough to not need feeding by the parents by the time summer heat arrives.
That said you can see they don’t like hot weather. More obviously so than any of the other birds. On hot days my local magpies - I live next to a reserve - just sit all day in the tree outside my kitchen door, and I put cold water out of the fridge in their water dish there. The only thing they like more on a hot day than a cold drink is being sprayed with the hose. Which is just as much, I guess, about getting rid of parasites. So I’m not surprised they really really don’t like trackers.
Michael Delaney
I would be curious if they saw the transmitter and harness the same way they see helmets, an alien obtrusion that needs to be removed, cause they can’t see the top of our head. (why most attacks are bicycles, posties and horse riders)
If you watch some attacks, they actually aim for the side straps of the helmets.
Wal Muhleder
You can’t ask them, but the generally accepted explanation as to why Magpies attack the sides of the head is not because that’s where the helmet’s straps are, but that where our ears are.
If you watch they go after bigger birds, they go after their feet. They call me to get me to chase any intruding ibis into the air so they can attack their feet.
Brad Withyman
logged in via Facebook
As a life long magpie admirer, this article angered me. Firstly, these academics demonstrated a lack of common knowledge about the magpie. I highly intelligent and social bird would be highly stressed with having a foreign abject forced onto its body. This would make any research on its behavior pointless.
Secondly, the Perth researchers didn’t need to use trackers to learn the affects climate change is having on the birds reproduction.
I think these scientists have overstepped the mark with their research and use of technology in this case. Fitting trackers to anything they can needs to be reigned in.
Nature has many wonderful and mysterious ways about it. We humans don’t need to understand them all by fixing trackers to figure them out. Naturalist get it, many scientist don’t. It seems funding has a lot to do with how and why these types of studies get up.
I think humans need trackers more than birds do.
I could go on, but I’ve made my point.
Mick Shadwick
Agree entirely (see my separate comment). Animal cruelty is involved here.
Gil Thorncraft
Animals generally are not stupid.
Magpies in particular are very intelligent indeed and friendly, when befriended and treated with the respect they deserve, usually by a small amount of appropriate food and water baths to splash around in.
Any expense is amply repaid by their great vocalisations and inquisitive behaviour.
Shane Amazon
logged in via Google
One of my favourite animals, cheeky buggers!
Bairnsdale SES
logged in via Twitter
For the first time I recently observed the play behaviour like on the video. Two magpies rolling around in a child’s sandpit play-fighting over tangled balls of dry creeper. It was obviously play, no serious purpose, no real aggression.
As to cooperative behaviour: some years ago in a walk-through aviary in KL, Malaysia I watched hornbills digging a hole through the concrete base of a cage within the aviary and, in a pair working together :“outside” ,shape biscuits to pass through the hole to hornbills (of a different species) inside. Regret for ever that I didn’t record on video.
BobC
logged in via Twitter
This post was incorrectly and accidentally posted as Bairnsdale SES. Please excuse.
Mick Shadwick
Is animal cruelty involved here? The devices don’t weigh much relative to the weight of a magpie, but they are obviously intrusive and annoying to the magpies, as evidenced by their efforts to remove them.
Dominique Potvin
Senior Lecturer in Animal Ecology, University of the Sunshine Coast
Hi Mick,It’s really difficult for us to predict how certain species will react to specific trackers, which is why we test them on a handful of individuals first (pilot study), before proceeding to a full study as we did here. Hundreds of different species have been the subject of tracking studies, and some seem to be completely undisturbed by trackers while others appear very disturbed. It would be unethical (and also unscientific) to continue with a study where this behaviour was observed - which is why we have shelved it!
Mick Shadwick
Good, but why didn’t you mention this in the article? I would hope that other researchers adopt a similar approach.
Dominique Potvin
Senior Lecturer in Animal Ecology, University of the Sunshine Coast
Hi Mick, I did mention that the study was a pilot, although didn’t go into detail. All researchers working on animals must go through a rigorous animal ethics protocol and authorisation through an institutional or third party committee, and adhere to national and international standards for ethically studying animals. We are (usually) animal lovers ourselves, and always need to make careful considerations and do trials and tests before proceeding with any scientific inquiry on wildlife and animals in general. It is also continuously improving, as we get better at being less intrusive and at reducing our impact.
Richard Last
Thank you for clarifying that, this article disturbed me.
As posted above, I’ve observed our local maggies in a lot of territorial wars currently (Tasmania) and having even a so called ‘small’ device on their backs could prove the difference between life and death. Just observe the complicated areal acrobatics needed to defend territory whilst in the air - mind boggling. Any device fitted could prove disastrous.
Andrew Crowden
Bioethicist, The University of Queensland
Thank you Dominique, a really interesting article illustrating researcher ethical responses to evidence. You raise important questions for philosophers, scientists and AECs about emotion, empathy, altruism and consent in humans and non-humans - bring on the nanotech-trackers!
Steven Handel
logged in via Google
I’m reminded of this:
https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/scienceshow/treated-magpie-returns-with-its-friend-in-need-of-help/5064536
Cheryl Mathews
Wow Steven, thanks for that link! What an awesome story! I guess it may be possible that the first magpie brought the 2nd magpie around just because there was food being offered, but I think it’s a huge coincidence that the 2nd magpie had exactly the same problem as the first one did with the fishing wire wrapped around its foot. I think it’s more likely that the first magpie did indeed bring the 2nd one for treatment, rather than the food. My hubby and I have been feeding a local pair of magpies, and when both come at once they tend to squabble over the food a bit, so why would the first magpie bring another one to share food with if they don’t really like sharing? I notice the expert didn’t mention that.
Shane Thomas O'Donohue
Seems to be a lack of knowledge of how intelligent birds can be. My brother said he watched some magpies put nuts on the road for cars to run over then pressed the button at a pedestrian crossing and when the cars stopped they flew out to collect the nuts.
Cheryl Mathews
Indeed Shane, I’ve seen footage of that on a David Attenborough program. That program showed crows in Japan using the pedestrian lights in that way if I remember correctly. I would not be surprised if other birds, specifically corvids, around the world have evolved the same behaviour given that so many live alongside us in cities. They are extremely smart and observant.
Cheryl Mathews
Also, and I think it was on the same program, they showed crows that took bread scraps being fed to them in a park over to the pond in the same park and dropped the bread scraps in the water. They then waited, and when fish came along to eat the bread, they swooped and caught the fish! So they taught themselves to go fishing! I think we’ve yet to see an end to their surprisingly intelligent behaviour.
pxmc
logged in via Google
This article was republished on the ABC website with a different first image.Can you tell me what the hell is happening in the photo they chose? (I guess it suggests magpies removing ankle-tags? But the trackers weren’t attached to their ankles…and now I’m wondering if magpies have “ankles”. This photo may destabilise everything I think I know!). Please?
Dominique Potvin
Senior Lecturer in Animal Ecology, University of the Sunshine Coast
Hi! Those magpies were not from our study - but the bands around their ankles are likely government rings from the Australian Bird and Bat Banding Scheme. Those tend to stay on for life!
Peter Legisa
Walking through a graveyard I heard a loud chorus of European magpies. Approaching I saw a young magpie perched on a stone. The rest of the birds dispersed. The young bird could barely fly. My biologist friends later suggested, that the flock was encouraging the young one to fly.
As for tagging, there were some reports that aluminium tag on storks’ leg caused the poop to accumulate underneath the ring and cause damage. So some researchers stopped the practice.
On the other hand, I photographed a swan with a numbered collar. I reported the finding and it turned out the swan had flown at least twice from northern Italy to Poland and back, a distance of more than 600 km in each migration. Swans are among the heaviest flying birds. So, the collar provided valuable and surprising information and apparently did not affect the bird that much.
IgnoreThisLine
logged in via Google
Surely putting a removable tracker on a social covid that routinely allogrooms is asking for trouble?
I once found a dead juvenile (European) magpie that had a heavy infestation of fully engorged adult Ixodes ticks around its head, sufficient to have seriously impacted its physical condition, possibly to the point of fatality.
That was in a tick-infested deer park where Magpies routinely remove engorged ticks from the deer so presumably they do the same for one another. .
Removing another foreign body isn’t a great leap, which begs the question: how did this bird miss out? It is still the only tick-infested covid casualty I have come across in that park in 10 years.
John Lock
IgnoreThisLine
logged in via Google
Correction - For “covid” read “covid”!
Apologies
John Lock
http://www.youtube.com/deerisible
IgnoreThisLine
logged in via Google
Correction - For “covid” read “corvid”!
Moderators - Please remove the previous correction. Predictive text has a lot to answer for…
Apologies
John Lock
http://www.youtube.com/deerisible
Dominique Potvin
Senior Lecturer in Animal Ecology, University of the Sunshine Coast
Hello John, Just a quick correction - it’s a common mistake made by many that Australian magpies are corvids. They are actually passerines or songbirds, and not related closely to crows or other corvids! Allopreening and tick/parasite removal is definitely a common behaviour seen in many birds. However, it usually doesn’t involve much problem solving (see a tick, remove it).
With birds that remove ticks from mammals, they are in fact usually doing so for food! (Not my cup of tea, but to each their own).
Parasites can have devastating impacts on birds, especially juveniles, so an infestation that great would likely have been the cause of death of that poor european magpie you found.
IgnoreThisLine
logged in via Google
Thank you for the heads-up on your antipodean magpies. I should have checked harder - I looked at a couple of YouTube videos and to me they behaved like corvids (or possibly Ring-necked Parakeets / Keas! )
Regards
John Lock
Tony Cooper
logged in via Google
I have seen magpies pecking at one of their colleagues which had a noticeable growth on its head. However I didn’t make the anthropomorphic jump to conclude they were trying to remove the lump. That would be a step too far for me.
S
logged in via Google
I lived in the suburb of Greenwood in Perth, WA where magpies are a plenty! This behaviour is not surprising as I lived across from a park that had a group of magpies that lived there. Over time and having had a life long interest in birds these magpies and my family became accustomed to each other and unwittingly cooperated with each other. As my daughter was growing up she could also play with them and it appeared the senior magpies would look after her as they got to know each other, even down to routine! This kind of behaviour is also seen in a NZ parrot called the kea, I’ve seen it also in albatross.