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Magpies can form friendships with people – here's how
Gisela Kaplan
2017
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In this article, Gisela Kaplan discusses the relationship between humans and magpies, a type of black and white bird.
Can one form a friendship with a magpie — even when adult males are protecting their nests during the swooping season? The short answer is: “Yes, one can.”
Ravens and magpies are known to form powerful allegiances among themselves. In fact, Australia is thought to be a hotspot for cooperative behavior in birds worldwide. They like to stick together with family and mates.
Of course, many bird species may readily become tame enough to take food from our hand, but this isn’t really “friendship.” However, there is evidence that, remarkably, free-living magpies can forge lasting relationships with people, even without depending on us for food or shelter.
When magpies are permanently settled 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 never get swooped. Also, 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.
A key reason why friendships with magpies are possible is that we now know that magpies are able to recognize and remember individual human faces for many years. They will remember someone who was good to them; equally, they remember negative encounters.
Why become friends?
Magpies that actively form friendships with people make this investment (from their point of view) for good reason. Properties suitable for magpies are hard to come by and the competition is fierce. Most magpies will not secure a territory — let alone breed — until they are at least five years old. In fact, only about 14% of adult magpies ever succeed in breeding.
The difference between simply not swooping someone and a real friendship manifests in several ways. When magpies have formed an attachment, they will often show their trust, for example, by formally introducing their offspring. They may allow their chicks to play near people, not fly away when a resident human is approaching, and actually approach or roost near a human.
In rare cases, they may even join in human activity. 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 the 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 that had begun to take the initiative and had chosen to socially interact and such behavior, as research has shown particularly in primates, is part of the basis of social bonds and friendships.
Risky business
If magpies can be so good with humans, how can one explain their swooping at people? It’s worth bearing in mind that swooping magpies do not act in aggression or anger but as nest defenders. The strategy they choose is based on risk assessment.
A risk is posed by someone who is unknown and was not present at the time of nest building, which unfortunately is often the case in public places and parks. That person is then classified as a territorial intruder and thus a potential risk to their family. At this point the male guarding the nest performs a warning swoop, literally asking a person to step away from the nest area.
If warnings are ignored, the adult male may try to conduct a near-contact swoop aimed at the head. Magpie swooping is generally a defensive action taken when someone unknown approaches who the magpie believes intends harm. It is not an arbitrary attack.
When I was swooped for the first time in a public place, I slowly walked over to the other side of the road. Importantly, I allowed the male to study my face and appearance from a safe distance, so he could remember me in the future. This is a useful strategy since we now know that magpies remember human faces.
A sure way of escalating conflict is to fence them with a device like an umbrella or to run away at high speed. This approach may well confirm for the magpie that the person concerned is dangerous and needs to be fought with every available strategy.
In dealing with magpies, de-escalating a perceived conflict is usually the best strategy.
Text: "Magpies can form friendships with people — here's how" by Gisela Kaplan, October 3, 2017. Copyright © The Conversation CC BY-ND 4.0. Edits approved by the author.
Image: "Untitled" by CA Creative is licensed under CC0
Question 31
The author develops her point of view by describing —
A. an experiment with magpies.
B. her observations of magpies.
C. other friendships across species.
D. how taming magpies affects their behavior.
1 answer
The best response to how the author develops her point of view is:
B. her observations of magpies.
The passage primarily focuses on the author's personal experiences and observations regarding magpies and their interactions with humans, rather than an experiment or comparisons with other species' friendships.
6 answers
1 answer
2 answers
1 answer