Are Magpies Australia's Smartest Bird?

______
00:00 Intro
______
#ABCScience #HowDeadly
---------------------------------------------------------------
This is an official Australian Broadcasting Corporation YouTube channel.

[rabidsmiles]

I need Dr. Jones to narrate ALL OF THE THINGS please. I love her.

[vickibrown]

I absolutely love magpies & their warbling. I have lived near them for 21 years & never been swooped. Been swooped by a pee-wee, though. Parents have even been brought their young for introductions- what an honour!

[dizzylizzy]

I also love Dr Jones's work. I always click when I see she's made another video. And I love Magpies. Absolutely love them. I have a magpie friend that follows me around in my garden.

[yvonnepagan]

If I ever had to leave Australia, I would miss the magpies the most! Their song is music to my ears. We have one who lives nearby and I wake to it’s song most days. You have to be careful how far you want to take your relationship if you get close to a Maggie. It will peck at all your things, poo on your verandah mercilessly, keep tapping on your window until you give it want it wants and bring all its friends and relos who’ll do the same! But they are lovely birds. (Only wombats are naughtier!)

[grandmothergoose]

I'm surprised it wasn't mentioned that they also have a high degree of social intelligence as well. When a group of researchers tried to track some magpie behaviour by attaching little devices to them, the experiment failed within a couple of days because they quickly figured out how help each other remove the devices. I'd contest that Australian crows and raven would give the magpies a run for their money on intelligence though, with some parrot species not too far behind.

[johndavis]

I don't know about being the smartest bird in Australia, but definitely the most admired by many.

Once you've had a good relationship with an Australian Magpie, you'll never see them as a threat. They are intelligent and will make friends with you, bring you their young and hang out with you when gardening.

All nest building birds use tools. The materials are tools and can include the usual sticks, bits of hurricane wire fencing, wire coat hangers, sheeps wool, spiders web, threads of cotton, bits of packing strap, etcetera, etcetera depending on the type of nest and the spieces of bird building it.

I've had many wonderful experiences with the Australian magpie and regard them as my favorite bird.

[itstruckmeeveryday]

Crows and magpies are by far two of the coolest birds on the planet.

[TraumaQueen]

We love our local Maggies. There's a little trio of fellas who keep us company nearly every evening. Chaos when they bring their mates tho <3

[penneycason]

I’m convinced that my original rescue Maggie 25yrs ago has had her family visit us ever more.

[tmmtmm]

They might be smart but not *that* smart. My local male maggie attacks his reflection in the window almost every morning 😂

[PeterTodd]

That snake was just round the corner from where I live in Nedlands, luckily it's just a black headed python.
The maggies around this area are really comfortable around people. I sat and watched one of them set up a performance space inside the local shopping centre and proceeded for a good 10 minutes to sing/mimic every sound and tune it knew. Totally fascinating.

[KatieDeGo]

When Dr Jones said the thing about magpies in vests, it filled me with the most joy I've been filled with in so long! 😊

[BradGryphonn]

I so want to spend half an hour writing down all my good and bad experiences for your entertainment. However, they started 55 years ago, and there are many. Awesome birds.

[Steve-eivh]

I made friends with all the magpies in my local area by stopping and having a chat with any near me. One young bird. (Still some brown feathers ) would drop by close for a chat. And a piece of bacon. And one day, he was singing away to me only feet away, and a wattle bird flew down and swooped him, causing him to fall over in fright. I swear to God his parents. Close by, let out what could be described as a huge belly laugh. From then on, his chats involved lots of looking around and a little less concentrating on me....

[AW-pzqc]

I love Maggies and find their warbling very soothing. Maggie family nested in a high tree near our house would come and sit for morning coffee on the back deck and, as usual, I would talk to it and request a song, of course after it obliged I would get some pet mince (bought specially for visiting birds) from the fridge and Maggie would follow me into the kitchen and sit on the stool watching to make sure I didn't renege on the deal. Talk about hilarious! then I took the mince back to the deck where it would take chunks back to the nest to feed the chicks and continue this until that serving of mince was finished. During breeding season this happened many times each day and they would sit on the ensuite window sill to wake me for an early morning brekkie. Such beautiful birds with a great personality.

[AnneMorrish]

Magpies are the most amazing beautiful creatures. Keep up the great work Dr Jones, we love your informative posts & shows 😊

[fairhall]

Twice I have stopped a magpie attacking someone by throwing food out the car window. It could be they are attacking because they are being interrupted foraging for food for their baby as well as them having it in for Carlton supporters/collaborators.

[crystalwoods]

I had the local magpies help me evict a pigeon that nested on my balcony once the very noisy chicks were gone. Whenever it was crappy cold weather I'd feed them, but not otherwise so they wouldn't get dependent. They brought 3 generations of fledglings up to meet me before I had to move. No matter where I go, I look them in the eye and say hello, and I've never been swooped.

[browdser]

This was great! The one thing I wish was mentioned is on top of just how FEW magpies actually swoop is that swooping is a learned behavior. Children can learn it from their parents if a parent is a swooper, or if a human is aggressive to them (chasing/yelling/getting close to the nest). They are really the sweetest birds and will let you get extremely close if you're nonthreatening.

[pameladowe]

Yes, I have frequently been swooped - maggies spotted me and swoop in for food. If you are kind to them, they will accept you as friends. We had one called Cheeky, he called us to the railing one day and introduced us to 8 little brownies. He had four hens and each had two chicks. When I offered food, he gave permission for the chicks to accept. It was such a wonderful moment, these beautiful gawky babies, accepting the food from my hand with no hesitation.