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Magpies have long memories, and human behavior towards them determines how they respond.
When magpies are permanently ensconced on human property, they are also far less likely to swoop the people who live there. Over 80% of all successfully breeding magpies live near human houses, which means the vast majority of people, in fact, never get swooped. And since magpies can live between 25 and 30 years and are territorial, they can develop lifelong friendships with humans. This bond can extend to trusting certain people around their offspring.
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On one extraordinary occasion, an adult female magpie gingerly entered my house on foot, and hopped over to my desk where I was sitting. She watched me type on the keyboard and even looked at the screen. I had to get up to take a phone call and when I returned, the magpie had taken up a position at my keyboard, pecked the keys gently and then looked at the “results” on screen.
The bird was curious about everything I did. She also wanted to play with me and found my shoelaces particularly attractive, pulling them and then running away a little only to return for another go.
Importantly, it was the bird (not hand-raised but a free-living adult female) that had begun to take the initiative and had chosen to socially interact and such behaviour, as research has shown particularly in primates, is affiliative and part of the basis of social bonds and friendships.
The bird was curious about everything I did. She also wanted to play with me and found my shoelaces particularly attractive, pulling them and then running away a little only to return for another go.
Importantly, it was the bird (not hand-raised but a free-living adult female) that had begun to take the initiative and had chosen to socially interact and such behaviour, as research has shown particularly in primates, is affiliative and part of the basis of social bonds and friendships.
https://theconversation.com/magpies-can-form-friendships-with-people-heres-how-83950
13 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
We had a Western Scrub Jay for 14 years resident in our back yard...that bird would walk up to the window, bang on it with his beak (early AM, no alarm needed) and demand some peanuts with a loud SQUAWK! West Nile finally got him...
Ravens and Crows are incredible too...saw a group of four working cooperatively figuring out how to open a sealed plastic container of macaroni salad...it took a few minutes, but finally one jumped on top to hold it down, while the other three pried off the lid!
A splendid time was had by all!
We had blue jay, magpies, & crows & then in the space of a season, none for quite a few years. The jays started coming back about five years ago, & then the crows about two years ago, & this year we've finally seen magpies again. Not nearly as many, but it's great to see those black & white birds hopping around in the yard.
We put out peanuts but I never thought to try to offer them by hand. Hmmmm...
On edit: I just looked at the thread again, and saw you have posted a video of the story I read some time ago, and added to this thread. Sorry to duplicate what you had already included. I didn't take time to read the whole thread before replying to your original article.
I never forgot it for a moment, would love to add it to your thread, after this short article from Science Daily:
Large-group living boosts magpie intelligence
Date:
February 7, 2018
Source:
University of Exeter
Summary:
Growing up in a large social group makes Australian magpies more intelligent, new research shows.
Growing up in a large social group makes Australian magpies more intelligent, new research shows.
Using four tasks to test intelligence, scientists from the University of Exeter and the University of Western Australia found wild Australian magpies from larger groups showed "elevated cognitive performance."
The study also found more intelligent females produced more offspring.
The research suggests that the demands of living in complex social groups may play a role in the evolution of intelligence.
More:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/02/180207140406.htm
~ ~ ~
The magpie that saved a family
By Vibeke Venema
BBC World Service
3 October 2016
Sam Bloom fell into a deep depression after a fall from a roof terrace during a family holiday left her paralysed from the chest down. But help was to come from an unexpected source - a magpie chick which had fallen from its nest. When the family took in the bird, it brought joy back to their home and allowed Sam to make a new start.
Sam Bloom doesn't remember falling. The last thing she remembers is admiring the view from the terrace of their hotel in Thailand.
It was January 2013 and she was on a family holiday with husband, Cameron, and their three young boys in a small coastal village on the Andaman Sea.
After a morning swim in the sea they discovered the hotel had a rooftop terrace and all bounded up the stairs to take in their surroundings.
More:
https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-37519032
~ ~ ~
Absolutely love your article's attention to the magpie's learning skills, and her fearlessness in search of learning about human beings at close range. It is so good to have read it. It makes a person think a little more respectfully about our world and its citizens. Thank you.
I never forgot it for a moment, would love to add it to your thread, after this short article from Science Daily:
Large-group living boosts magpie intelligence
Date:
February 7, 2018
Source:
University of Exeter
Summary:
Growing up in a large social group makes Australian magpies more intelligent, new research shows.
Growing up in a large social group makes Australian magpies more intelligent, new research shows.
Using four tasks to test intelligence, scientists from the University of Exeter and the University of Western Australia found wild Australian magpies from larger groups showed "elevated cognitive performance."
The study also found more intelligent females produced more offspring.
The research suggests that the demands of living in complex social groups may play a role in the evolution of intelligence.
More:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/02/180207140406.htm
~ ~ ~
The magpie that saved a family
By Vibeke Venema
BBC World Service
3 October 2016
Sam Bloom fell into a deep depression after a fall from a roof terrace during a family holiday left her paralysed from the chest down. But help was to come from an unexpected source - a magpie chick which had fallen from its nest. When the family took in the bird, it brought joy back to their home and allowed Sam to make a new start.
Sam Bloom doesn't remember falling. The last thing she remembers is admiring the view from the terrace of their hotel in Thailand.
It was January 2013 and she was on a family holiday with husband, Cameron, and their three young boys in a small coastal village on the Andaman Sea.
After a morning swim in the sea they discovered the hotel had a rooftop terrace and all bounded up the stairs to take in their surroundings.
More:
https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-37519032
~ ~ ~
Absolutely love your article's attention to the magpie's learning skills, and her fearlessness in search of learning about human beings at close range. It is so good to have read it. It makes a person think a little more respectfully about our world and its citizens. Thank you.
