Magpie and Intelligence

Yesterday I was scrolling Instagram when I saw a cute video of a cat and a bird. The cat was walking under the shade of trees and a bird was stalking her from a safe distance.

When the cat turned her head behind, that bird pretended to see his surroundings(I'm not following you, I'm just enjoying the nature around you dear kitty).

Source

The cat continued walking, the bird started his stalking, the cat turned behind, the bird started looking here and there, and this game continued.

This name of the bird turned around Magpies are known for their intelligence, jet black color with white patches and purple-green streaks.

I was so moved by this cute video that I googled this bird to know more about his polished stalking skills:p

This bird is the part of crow family collectively called corvids

They are very intelligent and social birds and inhabit near humans 90% of the time. It is said that they have got this intelligence from their mothers in their genes.

However, studies have shown that it is their environment that helps them grow their brain and sharpen their mind.

Their brain-to-body mass ratio is equal to apes, it exposes their intelligence and brain power.

Eurasian magpies which are present in the orchids of Gilgit Baltistan are the first ever birds to identify themselves in the mirror in a test named mirror test for self-awareness. They had to put a different colored mark on each magpie. And they recognized their mark when they looked in the mirror walking by.

Let's know another experiment that has proved their cleverness.

An experiment was conducted with a wooden box having multi-Colored lids, below one of them was food as a reward.

The activity was conducted with solo magpies. After dozens of attempts, they were able to know under which lid their food was.

Next time they were able to open that specific lid with fewer attempts.

The researchers said that those magpies who were more social and had communities were able to quickly learn this trick than less social birds.

Being a social bird means paying attention to other individuals, their appearance, and their activities. It helps them to use their mind with full attention in the present moment and ultimately enhance their intelligence.

Magpies can remember human faces and mimic their voices and those of other animals as well.

On the internet, I have also read that a magpie would sit on the work table of a lady and see her typing on her laptop. That magpie observed her actions and started pressing keys on the keyword with eyes on the screen to see the results, in her absence.

Wannabe keyboard warriors

They can become friends with humans and allow them to be around their offspring if a bond is made. Otherwise, they are so territorial that a male magpie wouldn't allow anyone to be around their nest.

They too have emotions and grieve like humans when their loved ones die.

They can call out almost 40 magpies within 10-15min after any magpie dies for their funeral. Each lands with a grass stalk and puts it beside their expired magpie.

What a civilized way of grieving.

These birds are known for good luck in Asia.
In China, they are believed to make a bridge across the Milky Way to unite lovers there. In Korea, the magpie is their national bird.

In Europe, they are known for good or bad luck depending upon the numbers seen at the time.

A rhyme was made by John Brand counting magpies

One for sorrow,
Two for joy,
Three for a girl,
Four for a boy,
Five for silver,
Six for gold,
Seven for a secret never to be told.

Lastly, they have an odd habit of collecting things that are useless or have little value.

And They make a lot of noise, remember crows are their relatives.

Humans who have the habit of collecting clutter and talking nonstop are also teased with the name magpies.

But I'm sure you are not a Magpie, are you?