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Magpie behavior (1 Viewer)

SueED57

New member
I am not a very sophisticated bird-watcher but today I saw something that I'd like someone to explain if possible.

I was bothered during the day by a large crowd of magpies (25 or more) making a real ruckus in my back alley. I came outside to see this large group sitting on a transmission pole and lines in the alley, all of them sqawking as loudly as they could. It was a really intense noise. About half an hour later they were still there and the noise was ridiculous so I went outside and walked to the alley. All of the magpies took off into neighboring trees but I found a dead magpie lying in the alley near my trash cans. it didn't appear to be visibily injured - i.e. shot or electrocuted - but was definitely dead. I picked it up with a stick and it was definitely stiff and frozen from the night before.

My question is this: is it possible that magpies mourn a dead comrade? This flock of 25 or more hung around this spot for several hours before I finally shooed them away. I removed the dead bird to a bag and put it inside one of the trash cans. Do magpies mourn? Is there any other explanation for this incident? Thanks to whoever can enlighten me.
 
Not mourning, I’m sure, but maybe excited & worried by the sight of one of their number dead. Or maybe they were excited for some other reason, the presence of the dead magpie being pure coincidence?
 
mirror self-recognition

I don't know if they mourn or not, but they are very smart birds. A paper came out about a year and a half ago on their ability to recognise themselves in a morror (mirror self-recognition has only been shown in a handful of species: dolphins, elephants and some apes, most convincingly in chimps). That reveals something profound about the way their brains work. It gives them a sense of self and other, which makes things like deception and empathy possible.

Cw
 
Dead Magpie

I just saw pretty much the same thing! I am a keen birdwatchcer and am particularly keen on Magpies because from what I have observed, they are intelligent.

Just 30 minutes ago I heard a couple of magpies making a huge racket! I know that they only make this noise when they're troubled by something. Then one by one, more and more magpies started congregating in this tree and making even more of a racket! When I looked outside below the tree, I saw a dead magpie on the road - it think it had just happened. I couldn't believe how many Magpies came around for this!

They are without doubt an intelligent bird, and I'd be really interested to know exactly what's going through theie minds when they congregated around this dead Magpie. It must be something along the lines of mourning or saying "goodbye". Very weird to witness, but very interesting!
 
This is a little different than what you've been discussing, but you may find it of interest. I was just reading on the Audubon Society website about some researchers who'd been tagging baby Magpies. The report stated that on subsequent days (when tagging was not being done) the adult Magpies would mob these researchers. The Magpies apparently remembered the researchers from the prior days, when the baby birds had been tagged.

Deborah
 
Magpies are corvids, which is one of the smartest group of birds. I'm not sure about empathy in magpies and I don't know that anyone has studied this subject before. Interesting anecdote(s)!
 
I don't know if they mourn or not, but they are very smart birds. A paper came out about a year and a half ago on their ability to recognise themselves in a morror (mirror self-recognition has only been shown in a handful of species: dolphins, elephants and some apes, most convincingly in chimps). That reveals something profound about the way their brains work. It gives them a sense of self and other, which makes things like deception and empathy possible.

Cw

Here's the abstract http://www.plosbiology.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pbio.0060202. Full text is behind paywall
 
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