More aggressive magpies may be less clever, researchers say

Abused magpies may actually be the smarter birds in their group, Australian researchers say.

The team has been monitoring a population of suburban magpies in Western Australia since 2014, and from 2020 to 2021 they are recording data on the magpies’ social networks to study how their interactions have affected their intelligence.

The birds’ brains were tested by approaching them with a color-coded toy with a treat placed behind a certain color.

The researchers then measured how quickly the birds learned to use the color to find the treat before the toy was taken away.

They found that magpies who bullied other magpies more often did less well on the IQ test, while those who were bullied were likely to do better.

The findings may support the “necessity drives innovation” hypothesis — that people who are unable to bully their way to their goals can come up with new solutions.

Or, more colloquially, it’s about brains over brawn.

“Our findings highlight the importance of considering social interactions beyond group size when examining the sociality-cognition link,” the researchers said.