Magpies Help Each Other Remove Tracking Devices, Thwart Scientists

Scientists from the University of the Sunshine Coast and the University of Queensland originally set out to test miniature backpack-like tracking harnesses on magpies, a type of passerine common to Australia. After allowing a group of ten magpies to adjust to the researchers’ presence over a few weeks, the team safely captured five of the birds and equipped them with tracking harnesses and colored leg bands for identification purposes. The magpies were then re-released for observation.

Almost immediately, the magpies got to work attempting to remove the harnesses. Four of the five magpies were found pecking at their own tracking devices within the first two days of observation. On the day of capture and release, one tracked magpie was seen attempting to remove its own tracker when another magpie, an untracked juvenile, joined in by pecking at the harness in unison. The two were unsuccessful at removing the tracker, which prompted a third magpie, an untracked adult female, to approach and successfully peck the tracked magpie free of its harness. At the same time, another untracked magpie was helping a tracked one break free of its harness atop a powerline. (After falling off the powerline mid-peck, the magpies continued their mission in a tree, a process which was partially captured in the video below.)

Animals have long been found to engage in cooperative relationships in the wild; the classic example of the oxpecker, a type of bird, and the zebra comes to mind. (The oxpecker hangs out on the zebra’s back, picking bugs from the zebra’s hair, resulting in a steady stream of food for one and convenient pest control for the other.) But these relationships usually constitute mutualism, in which both parties enjoy some type of immediate benefit. In the case of the magpies, those responsible for snipping the tracking devices did so without receiving any tangible reward.

Such collaborative (and apparently altruistic) problem-solving behaviors may be a major reason why magpies have adjusted relatively well to extreme habitat changes caused by humans, including climate change, according to the researchers. Though the tracking device trial didn’t quite go as planned, those involved don’t feel the effort was wasted; the magpies’ immediate desire to free one another from their strange new harnesses appears to be a testament to their species’ prosocial behavior.

“We never considered the magpies may perceive the tracker as some kind of parasite that requires removal,” said study author and behavioral ecologist Dominique Potvin for Australia’s ABC News. “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 behavioral data to help magpies survive in a changing world.”

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