I used to have a family of magpies that visited me in my last apartment. They were fantastic, and I encouraged them to keep coming back because just before that I’d had pigeons lay eggs just outside my bathroom window. Pigeon baby creeling is annoying and non-stop, and no sooner did one lot fly off and I went outside to move the pot they’d been laid in, but I discovered yet more eggs were already there!!!
Anyway, the magpies kept me company for 4 years, and when it was particularly nasty weather I’d sometimes leave something outside for them. Not all the time, because I didn’t want them becoming dependent, but they definitely were quick to catch on that I was a friend. I never had problems with swooping during the nesting season, and in fact, they started bringing their hatchlings up to meet me once they were flying. I was convinced these were VERY intelligent birds. I still am.
Shortly after telling a colleague at work about this, though, I came across an article online with the results of an intelligence test applied to them. Mirror recognition. There’s not a lot of species that can recognise that they are looking at a reflection of themselves when they see a mirror. The list used to only have mammals, and was pretty short. Humans, four types of apes, bottlenose dolphins and Asian elephants. All these have a neocortex, but the magpie doesn’t. Even so, it was smart enough to now rank in the list of ‘intelligent’ creatures.
If you’re wondering about the “how”, it involved placing stickers on the bird’s neck, in a spot it couldn’t normally see. When they saw themselves in the mirror, they scratched and otherwise tried to remove the spots. When black stickers were used that didn’t show, no reaction, so it wasn’t just the feel.
It got me interested. Then I discovered a video of a crow trying to get at something in a taped down canister. Not only did it pick up a piece of wire and use it to poke around – when that didn’t work it stuck the end of the wire into the tape holding the container and manipulated it into a hook to fish the bait out.
I don’t think “bird brain” is an insult anymore.
