Unflappable magpies

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GregL
GregL's picture
Unflappable magpies

I have a small hobby vinyard on my farm(about 300 vines), which I have to keep netted to keep the birds off the fruit. Nets can trap birds if they get tangled, I regularly check mine. There are holes in the nets near the ground, caused by rabbits, but most birds can't find the holes. If a bird does get in after the fruit they get panicked when I try to chase them out, usually silvereyes, currawongs and crimson rosellas.

Magpies don't eat fruit but like my vineyard for the soft soil full of curl grubs. Recently they have been going under the nets after the grubs in the soil. If I come near they fly around at first but then drop to the ground and calmly walk back to the hole in the net to make their exit. They obviously remember exactly where the hole is and have the presence of mind to orient themselves and not panic which would cause them to become disoriented. I haven't seen any other birds which can do this so well, and I have worked a lot in vinyards under nets. Currawongs definitely can't, they just fly around and use brute force to try and push their way out, though currawongs are pretty crafty birds. Barring crows I don't think there are any birds as clever as magpies in Australia. They don't learn the location of the holes through repitition - once they use a hole they know exactly where it is.

darinnightowl
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hi Greg

I had many different pet birds as a kid, magpies were  always quick to learn how things worked. So this does not suprise me.

See it!  Hear it!

Mid-North Coast NSW

Woko
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What an interesting observation, Greg. You may have the beginnings of an IQ test for birds. It reminds me of the bird species, precisely which I can't remember, which uses a thin stick to winkle grubs from holes in trees.  

dwatsonbb
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Woko, if you have been watching a fantastic series called Galapagos, it may be the Woodpecker finch you are referring to, uses it's beak to widen a hole, and then cuts a twig to size to dig out the grub, simply amzing piece of adaptation. It will even discard one twig and cut another to the correct size, if the first is not right.

Dale Huonville, Tasmania

GregL
GregL's picture

Another thing I have noticed with magpies is they will watch people in a house through the windows to see what they are doing, if you have been feeding them.

Woko
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By George, Dale, I think you have it! That's where I saw the bird (woodpecker finch) using a stick to extricate a grub from a hole!

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