Aw look, roommates!
Brib Cuddles
Submitted 3 weeks ago by fossilesque@mander.xyz to science_memes@mander.xyz
https://mander.xyz/pictrs/image/f3a89f5e-65d3-4331-b6cd-092744cd144b.jpeg
Comments
Thrife@feddit.org 3 weeks ago
digger@lemmy.ca 3 weeks ago
They were just very good friends.
agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
Rookmates
Ledericas@lemm.ee 3 weeks ago
Also Australian magpies aren’t actually corvids, that are related to crows, magpies and ravens. They belong in a different bird family altogether.
SkaveRat@discuss.tchncs.de 3 weeks ago
thanks, Lemmidan
southsamurai@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
That’s so damn cool to see! I thought I was fucking crazy!
Years and years ago, I made friends with some crows. So they’d hang around our yard a lot, kind of like their home base. I’d see that kind of thing, and wonder wtf was going on, but any time I’d tell somebody, it was like I was trying to prank them or something (I mean, not without reason, I am known for telling tall tales that turn into absurdity. I always fess up at the end, but it does mean I get the side eye a lot).
But nobody I ever told about it had ever seen it.
I’ve even seen jays do it a couple of times.
darctones@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
r/likeus
VerilyFemme@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 weeks ago
Cats with feathers
sem@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 weeks ago
Crows are cool and all! Before you humanize them too much, remember they predate upon other birds’ chicks, etc.
rooroo@feddit.org 3 weeks ago
But what can be more human than being a predator and a terrible being as well?
sem@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 weeks ago
Hmm. I think it’s the human capability to care about others that you’re not related to which has led to our domination over other species.
deur@feddit.nl 3 weeks ago
Humans are famous for not being omnivores, of course. You think history isn’t full of brutal hunting by humans who didnt know or care about anything better?
southsamurai@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
To be fair, pretty much any bird that isn’t exclusively an herbivore will do that if the opportunity arises. Birds be vicious little predators fo sho.
Hell, there’s a cardinal that hangs around our house, and I’ve seen him eating a dead bird before. Well, picking pieces of it off, then flying into the shrubbery, then coming back in a few seconds. I assume he was eating it, since they nest in a different section of the yard. So I wouldn’t even be surprised if pretty much any bird would go after unprotected chicks if the chance arises.
And all of them will eat eggs, afaik, if they can crack them, our they find one cracked already.
It’s a common joke to refer to their dinosaur ancestry, but even those cute like songbirds have a savage side, just like their more intimidating kin.
sem@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 weeks ago
I’m pretty sure that if you see birds carrying food, they’re usually bringing some to their babies! Otherwise it’s safer to eat it there.
HellieSkellie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
Predate? You mean prey?
sem@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 weeks ago
I’ve always used predate in this context because it tends to be confused with prey species.
ameancow@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
remember they predate upon other birds’ chicks, etc.
Wait 'til you see what humans do!
sem@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 weeks ago
Call me when crows invent factory farming lol
000@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
Paper referenced (I think): link.springer.com/article/…/s10071-020-01466-0
supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz 3 weeks ago
I see you there, being a badass and directly linking to scientific papers in the comments.
faultyproboscus@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
Co-lying is mentioned, but it isn’t the subject of this paper.
Cruxifux@feddit.nl 3 weeks ago
They used to do this with my stupid fucking cat. Half the reason I let my wife get the thing was that I thought it would keep the magpies and crows away and I could actually get decent sleeps in spring and summer but no, this dumb asshole car decided to be friends with them and lay on his back with them while they screamed.
Cethin@lemmy.zip 3 weeks ago
Just keep in mind, you’re the one intruding on their environment. Don’t use a cat to kill the native birds. We’ve had many extinct species from us letting our cats out into the environment.
RedditRefugee69@lemmynsfw.com 3 weeks ago
Cat owners generally don’t care.
cybervseas@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Vroom vroom
tdawg@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Pretty sure it’s our fault half of them have no instincts
Jakeroxs@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
I happened to get one of each
Frostbeard@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Mine hated magpies. First time we took him to my mothers house I heard some miaus smd found him on a rock in the middle of a little brook next to the house being mobbed by three magpies. And I had to rescue him. A little while later I saw the setup. One magpie was limping along being tracked by the cat. The second the cat jumped in the rock the other two immediately started mobbing him and the “wounded” would join in.
After that magpies were an arch enemy. A few years later I sat on my own porch, and this magpie was hopping around for probably 20-30 minutes when suddenly my fur missile came out if a bush next to the porch. He had bided his time and actually got both his paws all around the magpie who stated pecking his head. Think he was as surprised as the magpie as he actually let it go. (To my relief as I think he would haveoat an eye)
I saw that the magpies had learned and was more wary when they spotted him.
slampisko@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
idk what it is about calling cats dumb assholes, but it rarely fails to crack me up
mendiCAN@hexbear.net 3 weeks ago
Do you have any pictures of this cat laying with the birds? For science? doggy-beg
Cruxifux@feddit.nl 3 weeks ago
I used to have a video but that was forever ago.
Draegur@lemm.ee 3 weeks ago
if the cat gets hungry enough it’ll start to broaden its perspective on what can be food.
broaden it enough and it’ll include you, even.