armed with her questions

January 10, 2024 11:12 AM

Community science helps us unlock some pretty quirky aspects of the natural world, and those discoveries often come from unlikely places. Take year 3 student Emma Glenfield, who started with a simple question about magpies and wound up conducting some cutting-edge research almost by accident. 8-year-old Emma wanted to know: is there anything about people's appearance that connects people most often swooped on by Australian magpies defending their nests? When 30,000 people answered her question online, she found that people with thinning hair or no hair at all are much more likely to have been swooped on. (She also found out that Australians in her survey really love magpies, despite the swooping.)

nota bene: Australian magpies are not the same as European magpies, just as American robins are very different from European robins. While European magpies are corvids like crows and ravens, Australian magpies are actually a form of clever, social butcherbird -- that is, carnivorous songbirds like shrikes. They are not closely related to corvids at all, which makes them even more interesting in terms of their noted long memories and coordinated social behaviors.

This not the first time that Australian magpies have come to international attention: in 2022, they became the first bird species documented to engage in cooperative "rescue behavior" when researchers studying them noted them helping one another to remove "backpack"-style trackers, often within minutes of attachment.

Previously, previously, previously.

I apologize for infringing on chariot pulled by cassowaries' excellent beat, but I got this article from a friend and was immediately delighted by everything about it--and I was too impatient to wait to share!

posted by sciatrix (35 comments total)

Hats on bald heads: not just for egos and sun protection!
posted by grumpybear69 at 11:18 AM on January 10 [3 favorites]

Being eight years old and not familiar with Excel spreadsheets just yet, Emma found a special way to present her data using Lego.
lol <3
posted by Glinn at 11:33 AM on January 10 [20 favorites]

Professor Jones is now combing through the data to work out what else he can discover.

Mr Swoopsalot sees what they did there
posted by chavenet at 11:38 AM on January 10 [8 favorites]

I'm confused. How does swooping result in hair loss?
posted by adamrice at 11:41 AM on January 10

I'm confused. How does swooping result in hair loss?

The causation chain runs the other way. Magpies swoop on people with thinning hair or bald heads more often; being swooped upon by a magpie does not cause you to lose your hair.

*cough* I was just trying to not run afoul of the character limits!
posted by sciatrix at 11:43 AM on January 10

Perimenopause and migraine meds have been ENOUGH for my crown. Now I need to be extra worried about bird bombing. GREAT.
posted by atomicstone at 11:45 AM on January 10 [1 favorite]

Given that corvids have the ability to remember specific people who wronged them in the past, why would magpies select tall, bald men in general to swoop? Do they know something we don’t know? Three cheers to Emma for raising more questions and finding answers!
posted by njohnson23 at 11:49 AM on January 10 [1 favorite]

This is so interesting! I was like, maybe it's not appearance? Maybe the magpies can smell testosterone?? But then, knowing magpies, they are probably just chasing the shiny things.

Magpie 1: Jeez can you go tell those humans to get f'ed

Magpie 2: Do I have to, it’s sooooo ... OH SHINY

Also now I am wondering if they same thing is going on with bike helmets, so the solution isn't to add zip tie spikes, but to make them more drab?
posted by pulposus at 12:02 PM on January 10 [2 favorites]

Magpies swoop on people with thinning hair or bald heads more often

An alternative and perhaps more intriguing interpretation of Emma's Lego Figure 2 is that people who are bald on top or have no hair have been getting swooped more over the past year specifically and everyone was swooped more or less at the same rates before that. Maybe the magpies just got pissed off at bald guys recently? Need more data to confirm which hypothesis is correct.
posted by ssg at 12:14 PM on January 10

Sounds like science: Notice something odd. Formulate a hypothesis. Gather some data and analyze it to test hypothesis.

The Legometer seems to indicate that tonsured is the most swooped noddle - more than total bald. Looks like a nest? With the baldy bit a supernormal stimulus for "egg"?? Also the Legometer must be showing % swoopability in each category. Emma will need to input the raw counts if she's gonna do a ChiSq test. I want to say Hats Off but that will only encourage Mr Swoopsalot.
posted by BobTheScientist at 12:25 PM on January 10 [7 favorites]

i want the chance to rate magpies out of 10 goddammit
posted by Sebmojo at 12:27 PM on January 10 [3 favorites]

This is an absolutely fabulous story, and I love everything about it.

And it makes me realize that I should keep a journal filled with questions.

Thank you so much for posting this, sciatrix!
posted by kristi at 12:29 PM on January 10 [6 favorites]

Relevant Bluey clip (SLYT)
posted by cmerrill at 12:32 PM on January 10 [4 favorites]

Given that corvids have the ability to remember specific people who wronged them in the past, why would magpies select tall, bald men in general to swoop? Do they know something we don’t know? Three cheers to Emma for raising more questions and finding answers!
posted by njohnson23

These magpies aren't corvids (see first paragraphy under "more inside").
posted by sardonyx at 12:53 PM on January 10 [3 favorites]

An alternative and perhaps more intriguing interpretation of Emma's Lego Figure 2 is that people who are bald on top or have no hair have been getting swooped more over the past year specifically and everyone was swooped more or less at the same rates before that. Maybe the magpies just got pissed off at bald guys recently? Need more data to confirm which hypothesis is correct.

See, I loved that framing because I think people are most likely to be able to remember swooping within the period of a year, especially because as I understand it it's a relatively seasonal behavior. It struck me as a better way to get at "this happens to me semi-regularly" vs "this happened to me once" for a reasonably infrequent experience without accidentally running into confounds based on people's different assumptions about how often swooping happens.
posted by sciatrix at 1:05 PM on January 10

Maybe the magpies just got pissed off at bald guys recently?

In a weird twist on a racist trope, magpies have decided all baldies look alike.
posted by hippybear at 1:08 PM on January 10

In a weird twist on a racist trope, magpies have decided all baldies look alike.

Hrm. It doesn't look like she asked, but I'm curious if, say, black bald people got swooped less than white bald people.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 1:14 PM on January 10 [2 favorites]

The Sparrow B of Chris Chester's The Providence of a Sparrow liked to pull his eyelashes out from time to time. It may be birds are instinctually directed to pull hair or wool from mammals in general for lining their nests. Perhaps the sight of individual hairs on balding heads triggers these particular magpies in some way.
posted by y2karl at 1:14 PM on January 10

I'm curious if, say, black bald people got swooped less than white bald people.

I'm more assuming that for magpies, black and white aren't the categories but bald certainly is one.
posted by hippybear at 1:18 PM on January 10

I'm more assuming that for magpies, black and white aren't the categories but bald certainly is one.

may also be true for 8 year-old scientists
posted by chavenet at 2:11 PM on January 10 [2 favorites]

This tracks with my experience (and I suspect bald pale skin is significant). I have hair, and don’t get swooped when walking much, but have been swooped a lot wearing a white motorbike helmet, once to the point where a bird took a chunk out of the plastic.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 2:12 PM on January 10 [2 favorites]

I'm more assuming that for magpies, black and white aren't the categories but bald certainly is one.

I'd be surprised if light and dark don't factor in some way or another. She also doesn't seem to have asked about hats/helmets, which is surprising.

Looks like this got a boost on r/australia, but the actual survey is no longer up. The original story mentions she got responses worldwide, so there's almost certainly some corvid data in there.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 2:15 PM on January 10 [1 favorite]

The shine of sun reflecting on a scalp makes sense to me.
posted by itesser at 2:28 PM on January 10

Australian magpies are basically like fairies from mythology: be polite to them, offer them the occasional gift, and they will leave you alone. I make a habit of telling them how handsome they are.

There's lots of magpies at the university where I work. They've never swooped me, but they do occasionally beg for food, like this juvenile yesterday. They're cheeky but lovable.

The ravens, on the other hand, are very, very beautiful and utterly ruthless. One swooped down and stole the food out of my hand as I was about to bite it. They'd peck your eyes out if you stopped blinking long enough.

I love them too. Just differently.
posted by davidwitteveen at 3:01 PM on January 10 [5 favorites]

The greatest thing ever…
for me to swoop on!
posted by Mister Moofoo at 5:23 PM on January 10 [5 favorites]

They'd peck your eyes out if you stopped blinking long enough.

There is one who was staring at this thread and was unable to finish reading because this happened.

They are unable to respond here anymore.
posted by hippybear at 5:27 PM on January 10 [1 favorite]

"Australian magpies are basically like fairies from mythology: be polite to them, offer them the occasional gift, and they will leave you alone. I make a habit of telling them how handsome they are."

Can confirm that this is only a very small part of the magpie story.

Yes, if you "know" the magpie and are polite etc, you will not get swooped. The magpie family which lives in my street come down after I've mowed the lawn and check out the resultant eating opportunities. So they think I'm their buddy.

But as a bike rider who covers a fair bit of territory, especially during spring, you will get swooped by magpies who don't know you, cos' magpie reasons, and it might not be much fun for you.

Wear sunglasses and a helmet with reasonable coverage and you're fine. But getting swooped is still reasonably terrifying, even if its been happening to me for 40+ years.
posted by ademack at 8:06 PM on January 10 [1 favorite]

If you put fake hair on your helmet, will you be swooped less?
posted by hippybear at 8:18 PM on January 10

This is a fairly standard system. Not quite sure if that counts as fake hair.
posted by pompomtom at 10:28 PM on January 10

Could someone please put cheap costume wigs on their bike helmet to test this? For science.
posted by blnkfrnk at 12:22 AM on January 11

Nice confirmation of earlier work.

i want the chance to rate magpies out of 10 goddammit

Sorry, this is 2024 and ratings don't go to 10 any more. Your options are (a) five stars or (b) stop a low-paid contractor from getting any more shifts.

If you're not satisfied with this state of affairs it's your own fault. You should have responded to our survey, in which you were clearly offered the choice between (a) accepting these arrangements without complaint and (b) embracing them with joyous enthusiasm in exchange for a small "discount" i.e. avoidance of the surcharge we now impose on all those who chose (a).

We are currently experiencing larger than normal call volumes. Your call is important to us. If you wish to disconnect this call, press 1. To hear these options again, press 1. Calls may be monitored for quality and coaching purposes.
posted by flabdablet at 12:56 AM on January 11 [2 favorites]

I am glad someone has already covered ‘look like egg’
posted by lokta at 7:42 AM on January 11

i want the chance to rate magpies out of 10 goddammit

12/10! they're good magpies Brent
posted by jackbishop at 8:17 AM on January 11 [3 favorites]

Recently learned why they are called magpies! From Haggard Hawks:

On a sidenote, the name robin itself first appeared around the early fifteenth century too, as part of a Middle English trend for attaching human names to noticeable, characterful, or frequently encountered birds. Robin is a pet form of the boy’s name Robert, and as a result, the bird that had hitherto merely been known as a ruddock in English was upgraded in the Middle Ages to Mr. Robin Redbreast. Elsewhere, the plain old daw was rechristened Jack Daw, while the Old English pie or piet became Margaret Pie, and eventually the magpie. Tom Tits and even Philip Sparrows emerged around this time too, while the bird long considered the robin’s spouse in English folklore became forever known as Jenny Wren.

posted by Ishbadiddle at 8:39 AM on January 11 [5 favorites]

A little bird swooped in and added this post to the Best Of blog!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:31 AM on January 17