Crows and Magpies Use Anti-Bird Spikes to Build Nests: Unique Adaptability in Urban Birds

KOMPAS.com – Animals have various ways to protect their offspring. One of the unique ways that can be found is in crows and magpies.

According to a new study, both of these birds use anti-bird spikes collected from buildings to make nests.

The metal was meant to deter birds from roaming, but some urban birds in Europe have found ways to take advantage of it.

“It’s actually like a joke even to me as a nest researcher. It’s the craziest bird’s nest I’ve ever seen,” said Auke-Florian Hiemstra, a biologist with the Naturalis Biodiversity Center in the Netherlands.

The first study of bird nests made almost entirely of metallic materials found crows using spikes to protect the nest, in this case of course to keep other birds away.

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The way a crow places a nest

Reporting from Science Alert, Thursday (13/7/2023) researchers have at least found several examples of how birds protect their offspring.

For example, a crow’s nest found in a poplar tree in 2009 and an unfinished crow’s nest in a willow tree found in 2021, were made of at least 16 anti-bird spikes.

Everything has traces of the adhesive used to glue it to the building. This indicates that the nails were removed by force. The crow’s ability to take advantage of it is impressive.

Then, a magpie nest found in a maple tree in Antwerp, Belgium in 2021 is almost entirely made of 61 metal strips of anti-bird spikes and is 16.72 meters long.

The way the crow’s nests are placed on top of the dome of the building suggests a more specific use, namely for protection from air attack.

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The urban magpie may use strips to replace prickly twigs, which are less abundant in cities.

So Hiemstra and his team think that these pungent anthropogenic materials could be used specifically to enhance nest defense.

Adaptability of birds

Anti-bird spikes can secure twigs and support nest structures, so scientists think they could be quite a useful nest-building material.

The team also recorded more anthropogenic material than currently available natural biomass. So it’s no surprise that urban birds adopt these metals.

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Moreover, this bird’s adaptability has been demonstrated before through the use of man-made materials such as nails and screws, barbed wire, and even used syringes.

But the accumulation of man-made items can also harm birds.

“This is worrying because it is becoming increasingly clear that such materials can harm chicks and even adults,” said evolutionary biologist Zuzanna Jagie??o of the University of Warsaw and lead author of the study.

So it’s time we do our best to minimize the negative impact on birds even though the use of nails as a material for making nests is an innovative thing.

The research is published in Deinsea, the online journal of the National History Museum Rotterdam.

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2023-07-14 04:00:00
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