#magpie — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #magpie, aggregated by home.social.
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just watched a #magpie steal a snag from a bbq 😸 well done birdie
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just watched a #magpie steal a snag from a bbq 😸 well done birdie
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WHEN YOU ‘JUST’ WANT TO COLLECT SOME SPATIAL DATA! 😊
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Australian Researchers Fitted Five Magpies With GPS Trackers To Map Their Movements, But The Birds Began Removing One Another’s Harnesses Within Minutes, Turning A Failed Trial Into An Unexpected Observation Of Cooperation
(When researchers tried to track Australian magpies, the birds turned the tables—systematically removing each other's harnesses and revealing something far more interesting than GPS coordinates.)
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https://youtu.be/mM0j_GybEKw?si=GE3sFw00iXSDMlI0 <-- shared video
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https://spacedaily.com/t-australian-researchers-fitted-five-magpies-with-gps-trackers-to-map-their-movements-but-the-birds-began-removing-one-anothers-harnesses-within-minutes-turning-a-failed-trial-into-an-unexpected-obser/ <-- shared technical article
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http://dx.doi.org/10.20938/afo39007011 <-- shared paper
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https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-22/magpies-show-cooperative-behaviour-by-removing-tracking-device/100851458 <-- shared media article
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[the Aussie magpies need SWAG on their GPS harness!]
“Researchers in Queensland fitted five Australian magpies with tiny GPS trackers, hoping to map their movements and social relationships. The [mischief] had other plans.
Within about ten minutes, an untagged adult female was using her bill to work at the harness on a juvenile. The tracker came off. Nearby, another magpie was helping a second tagged bird on a powerline. Devices that had been designed to stay attached for weeks disappeared within minutes to days.
[The author] like[s] this story partly because it resists the tidy distinction between a successful experiment and a failed one. The researchers lost the movement data they went looking for, but the birds produced an observation nobody had planned…”
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“Recent advances in tracking technology have enabled devices such as Global Positioning Systems (GPS) loggers to be used on a wide variety of birds. Although there are established ethical considerations to these processes, different species may react differently to particular devices and attachments. Thus, pilot studies are still of utmost importance in this field. Here, [the authors] describe one such study trialling a novel harness design for GPS tracking devices on Australian Magpies Gymnorhina tibicen. Despite previous testing demonstrating the strength and durability of the harness, devices were removed within minutes to hours of initial fitting. Notably, removal was observed to involve one bird snapping another bird’s harness at the only weak point, such that the tracker was released. This behaviour demonstrates both cooperation and a moderate level of problem solving, providing potential further evidence of the cognitive abilities of this species. To our knowledge, this is the first study to report the conspecific removal of GPS trackers, and should be considered when planning future tracking studies especially on highly social species…”
#rescuebehaviour #altruism #WhereTheAnimalsAre #wildlife #tracking #spatialanalysis #bird #magpie #Australia #Queensland #research #GPS #tracker #harness #removal #ecosystems #GIS #logging #monitoring #spatial #mapping #social #species #behaviour #cooperation #problemsolving #cognitiveabilities #conspecific #biology -
WHEN YOU ‘JUST’ WANT TO COLLECT SOME SPATIAL DATA! 😊
--
Australian Researchers Fitted Five Magpies With GPS Trackers To Map Their Movements, But The Birds Began Removing One Another’s Harnesses Within Minutes, Turning A Failed Trial Into An Unexpected Observation Of Cooperation
(When researchers tried to track Australian magpies, the birds turned the tables—systematically removing each other's harnesses and revealing something far more interesting than GPS coordinates.)
--
https://youtu.be/mM0j_GybEKw?si=GE3sFw00iXSDMlI0 <-- shared video
--
https://spacedaily.com/t-australian-researchers-fitted-five-magpies-with-gps-trackers-to-map-their-movements-but-the-birds-began-removing-one-anothers-harnesses-within-minutes-turning-a-failed-trial-into-an-unexpected-obser/ <-- shared technical article
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http://dx.doi.org/10.20938/afo39007011 <-- shared paper
--
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-22/magpies-show-cooperative-behaviour-by-removing-tracking-device/100851458 <-- shared media article
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[the Aussie magpies need SWAG on their GPS harness!]
“Researchers in Queensland fitted five Australian magpies with tiny GPS trackers, hoping to map their movements and social relationships. The [mischief] had other plans.
Within about ten minutes, an untagged adult female was using her bill to work at the harness on a juvenile. The tracker came off. Nearby, another magpie was helping a second tagged bird on a powerline. Devices that had been designed to stay attached for weeks disappeared within minutes to days.
[The author] like[s] this story partly because it resists the tidy distinction between a successful experiment and a failed one. The researchers lost the movement data they went looking for, but the birds produced an observation nobody had planned…”
--
“Recent advances in tracking technology have enabled devices such as Global Positioning Systems (GPS) loggers to be used on a wide variety of birds. Although there are established ethical considerations to these processes, different species may react differently to particular devices and attachments. Thus, pilot studies are still of utmost importance in this field. Here, [the authors] describe one such study trialling a novel harness design for GPS tracking devices on Australian Magpies Gymnorhina tibicen. Despite previous testing demonstrating the strength and durability of the harness, devices were removed within minutes to hours of initial fitting. Notably, removal was observed to involve one bird snapping another bird’s harness at the only weak point, such that the tracker was released. This behaviour demonstrates both cooperation and a moderate level of problem solving, providing potential further evidence of the cognitive abilities of this species. To our knowledge, this is the first study to report the conspecific removal of GPS trackers, and should be considered when planning future tracking studies especially on highly social species…”
#rescuebehaviour #altruism #WhereTheAnimalsAre #wildlife #tracking #spatialanalysis #bird #magpie #Australia #Queensland #research #GPS #tracker #harness #removal #ecosystems #GIS #logging #monitoring #spatial #mapping #social #species #behaviour #cooperation #problemsolving #cognitiveabilities #conspecific #biology -
2025 the #rakali (white tipped tail) was the most underrated animal, joining the river #redgum (favourite tree) and the warbling #magpie (favourite animal sound).
https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2026-08-05/science-week-amazing-wildflowers-poll/106612968
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2025 the #rakali (white tipped tail) was the most underrated animal, joining the river #redgum (favourite tree) and the warbling #magpie (favourite animal sound).
https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2026-08-05/science-week-amazing-wildflowers-poll/106612968
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RE: https://mastodon.social/@europeanspaceflight/116975580109777753
The Mission for Advanced Geophysics and Polar Ice 🧊 Exploration is currently expected to launch in 📆 2029. It will be carried to the lunar surface aboard #ispace's Mission 4 lunar lander
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RE: https://mastodon.social/@europeanspaceflight/116975580109777753
The Mission for Advanced Geophysics and Polar Ice 🧊 Exploration is currently expected to launch in 📆 2029. It will be carried to the lunar surface aboard #ispace's Mission 4 lunar lander
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CW: Graphic description of magpie attack, new app
Swooping season is nearly upon us. This app sounds great, like Waze for those of us who live in fear of magpies.
‘It’s a bit gamified, almost like Pokemon Go’: The tracking app preventing magpie attacks
https://www.theage.com.au/national/it-s-a-big-gamified-almost-like-pokemon-go-the-tracking-app-preventing-magpie-attacks-20260706-p60cvn.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_feed -
CW: Graphic description of magpie attack, new app
Swooping season is nearly upon us. This app sounds great, like Waze for those of us who live in fear of magpies.
‘It’s a bit gamified, almost like Pokemon Go’: The tracking app preventing magpie attacks
https://www.theage.com.au/national/it-s-a-big-gamified-almost-like-pokemon-go-the-tracking-app-preventing-magpie-attacks-20260706-p60cvn.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_feed
