Magpie has no weakness for bling – he is afraid of! – Scientias.nl

Magpies do not have a weakness for bling and it is certainly not the case that they are once they get a chance, appropriating it. According to research by the University of Exeter that debunked myths about magpies.

The researchers base their conclusions on experiments with both wild and magpies magpies in captivity. They confronted the birds including metal screws, a piece of aluminum foil and a metal ring. Part of the origin of shiny objects was painted blue and did during the experiment as a non-shiny objects. The researchers made a pile of shiny and a stack of non-shiny objects. Those piles placed them about 30 inches away from a pile of food. The researchers then examined how the birds responded.

No unconditional attraction
The scientists conducted the experiment 64 times. And in that 64 experiments were the birds shiny objects only twice. In both cases the birds picked up a shiny ring on and let it also includes direct again. The birds ignored or simply avoided the shiny and blue objects. Also, it fell to the researchers that they ate less when these objects were nearby. “We found no evidence for an unconditional attraction of shiny objects,” says researcher Toni Shephard. “Instead, the animals showed a response that indicates neophobia – fear. New things”

“The animals showed a response that indicates neophobia – fear of new things”

Reputation
But how does the magpie anyway its reputation as a bling-lover? “We think that people notice when magpies occasionally pick up shiny objects, because they believe that the birds find these objects attractive, but they do not notice it when a magpie less attention to salient objects.”

According to researcher Natalie Hempel de Ibarra, the results of this study fit well with the image that we have obtained the final years of the magpie. “There is surprisingly little research on the cognitive mechanisms that underlie the behavior of the magpie. Like other members of the crow family with a large brain and complex social systems are magpies capable of advanced mental performance. So they can recognize themselves in the mirror, hidden objects detection and remember where and when they have food clogged. Here we again see that they are smart. They do not feel compulsively drawn to shiny objects, but decide when they are new and surprising. “These objects at a safe distance