Bird Brains Outsmart Humans

A recent study published in Australian Field Ornithology shows how the Australian magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen) removes annoying GPS trackers with a little help from their friends.

The researchers were testing a new design for a harness that holds a tracker in place, but is released when the magpie is near a magnet set in place at a feeder (so the GPS info can be retrieved without handling the birds again). Within minutes an adult female without a tracker removed the harness from a younger bird; within hours, most of the other trackers had been removed from the rest.

“Our goal was to learn more about the movement and social dynamics of these highly intelligent birds, and to test these new, durable and reusable devices. Instead, the birds outsmarted us,” lead author Dominique Potvin from the University of the Sunshine Coast in Australia confessed in The Conversation.

The birds helped each other without the prospect of reward, displaying both altruism and keen problem-solving skills so often lacking in the pedestrian community.

Photo credit: Dominique Potvin