Australian Magpie Tops National Bird Count for Another Year

The Australian magpie was recorded in half of the 153,000 surveys submitted to BirdLife Australia’s Aussie Bird Count, making it the most frequently reported species across the country. Researchers have documented several behavioral traits in the species. Magpies can distinguish individual human faces and voices, allowing them to respond differently to people they associate with safety or threat.

Both male and female magpies imitate calls of other bird species with high accuracy and sometimes insert those calls into their own sequences. One recorded instance showed a magpie using a learned dog’s name to summon the animal when threatened by a household cat.

Studies of cognitive performance found that fledglings raised in larger groups solved color-association and spatial-reward tasks more quickly than those from smaller groups.

A University of the Sunshine Coast project fitted five magpies with GPS harnesses. Within hours, group members removed four of the devices by pecking at weak points; the fifth device was removed after three days.

During spring breeding, roughly 10 percent of magpies—always males—swoop at humans. Observations of 48 aggressive individuals in Brisbane showed that 71 percent targeted only one category of intruder, such as pedestrians, cyclists, or postal workers.