In ethology, or the study of animal behaviour, unpredictability is part of the job. Scientists who had been testing a new tracking device during a pilot study on the movement and social dynamics of Australian magpies (Gymnorhina tibicen) received a pleasant surprise—they found out that the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-22/magpies-show-cooperative-behaviour-by-removing-tracking-device/100851458" alt="magpies had helped remove each other's trackers" class="on">magpies had helped remove each other's trackers</a>.

The pilot study involved five Australian magpies. The new tracker, shown in the image above, weighed less than a gram each. The scientists trained the magpies to come to an outdoor feeding "station" that could wirelessly charge the tracker's battery, download data, or release the tracker and harness all by using a magnet.The process is shown below.

Scientists were surprised when, within ten minutes of fitting the final tracker, one of the adult female magpies had tried to remove the harness off a younger bird with her bill. Hours later, most of the trackers had been removed. The dominant male had his tracker removed within three days.The study was published in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.birdlife.org.au/afo/index.php/afo/article/view/2247">Australian Field Ornithology</a>.#Magpie #Bird #TrackingDevice #AnimalBehaviourImage source:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.birdlife.org.au/afo/index.php/afo/article/view/2247" class="on">Dominique Potvin in&nbsp;Australian Field Ornithology</a>

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