Altruisme hos fugle? Magpies har overlistet videnskabsmænd ved at hjælpe hinanden med at fjerne sporingsenheder

Da vi tilsluttede små, rygsæklignende sporingsenheder til fem australske skater til en pilotundersøgelse, forventede vi ikke at opdage en helt ny social adfærd, som sjældent ses hos fugle.

Vores mål var at lære mere om disse meget intelligente fugles bevægelser og sociale dynamik og at teste disse nye, holdbare og genanvendelige enheder. I stedet overlistede fuglene os.

Som vores nye forskningsartikel forklarer, begyndte skaterne at vise beviser for samarbejdsvillig "rednings"-adfærd for at hjælpe hinanden med at fjerne sporeren.

Selvom vi er bekendt med, at skater er intelligente og sociale væsner, var dette det første tilfælde, vi kendte til, som viste denne type tilsyneladende altruistisk adfærd:at hjælpe et andet medlem af gruppen uden at få en øjeblikkelig, håndgribelig belønning.

Test spændende nye enheder

Som akademiske forskere er vi vant til, at eksperimenter går skævt på den ene eller anden måde. Udløbne stoffer, svigtende udstyr, kontaminerede prøver, et uplanlagt strømafbrydelse - alt dette kan sætte måneder (eller endda år) tilbage med omhyggeligt planlagt forskning.

For os, der studerer dyr, og især adfærd, er uforudsigelighed en del af jobbeskrivelsen. Dette er grunden til, at vi ofte har brug for pilotundersøgelser.

Vores pilotundersøgelse var en af ​​de første af sin slags - de fleste trackere er for store til at passe på mellemstore til små fugle, og dem, der har tendens til at have meget begrænset kapacitet til datalagring eller batterilevetid. De har også tendens til kun at være engangsbrug.

Et nyt aspekt af vores forskning var designet af selen, der holdt trackeren. Vi udtænkte en metode, der ikke krævede, at fugle blev fanget igen for at downloade dyrebare data eller genbruge de små enheder.

Vi trænede en gruppe lokale skater til at komme til en udendørs fodringsstation, der enten trådløst kunne oplade trackerens batteri, downloade data eller frigive trackeren og selen ved hjælp af en magnet.

Selen var hård, med kun et svagt punkt, hvor magneten kunne fungere. For at fjerne selen havde man brug for den magnet, eller en rigtig god saks. Vi var begejstrede for designet, da det åbnede op for mange muligheder for effektivitet og gjorde det muligt at indsamle en masse data.

We wanted to see if the new design would work as planned, and discover what kind of data we could gather. How far did magpies go? Did they have patterns or schedules throughout the day in terms of movement, and socialising? How did age, sex or dominance rank affect their activities?

All this could be uncovered using the tiny trackers—weighing less than one gram—we successfully fitted five of the magpies with. All we had to do was wait, and watch, and then lure the birds back to the station to gather the valuable data.

It was not to be

Many animals that live in societies cooperate with one another to ensure the health, safety and survival of the group. In fact, cognitive ability and social cooperation has been found to correlate. Animals living in larger groups tend to have an increased capacity for problem solving, such as hyenas, spotted wrasse, and house sparrows.

Australian magpies are no exception. As a generalist species that excels in problem solving, it has adapted well to the extreme changes to their habitat from humans.

Australian magpies generally live in social groups of between two and 12 individuals, cooperatively occupying and defending their territory through song choruses and aggressive behaviors (such as swooping). These birds also breed cooperatively, with older siblings helping to raise young.

During our pilot study, we found out how quickly magpies team up to solve a group problem. Within ten minutes of fitting the final tracker, we witnessed an adult female without a tracker working with her bill to try and remove the harness off of a younger bird.

Within hours, most of the other trackers had been removed. By day 3, even the dominant male of the group had its tracker successfully dismantled.

We don't know if it was the same individual helping each other or if they shared duties, but we had never read about any other bird cooperating in this way to remove tracking devices.

The birds needed to problem solve, possibly testing at pulling and snipping at different sections of the harness with their bill. They also needed to willingly help other individuals, and accept help.

The only other similar example of this type of behavior we could find in the literature was that of Seychelles warblers helping release others in their social group from sticky Pisonia seed clusters. This is a very rare behavior termed "rescuing."

Saving magpies

So far, most bird species that have been tracked haven't necessarily been very social or considered to be cognitive problem solvers, such as waterfowl and raptors. We never considered the magpies may perceive the tracker as some kind of parasite that requires removal.

Tracking magpies is crucial for conservation efforts, as these birds are vulnerable to the increasing frequency and intensity of heatwaves under climate change.

In a study published this week, Perth researchers showed the survival rate of magpie chicks in heatwaves can be as low as 10%.

Importantly, they also found that higher temperatures resulted in lower cognitive performance for tasks such as foraging. This might mean cooperative behaviors become even more important in a continuously warming climate.

Just like magpies, we scientists are always learning to problem solve. Now we need to go back to the drawing board to find ways of collecting more vital behavioral data to help magpies survive in a changing world.