What did a 2008 study show about Eurasian magpies?

They can pass the mirror self-recognition test

What was historic about this result?

First non-mammal shown to pass the test

What did a 2014 study find about magpies and shiny objects?

They tend to avoid them rather than steal them

Why are Australian magpies famous in spring?

Some swoop at people near their nests

How do magpies often live?

In social groups with complex behavior

Magpie Quiz: The Mirror Test and Corvid Intelligence

Black-and-white birds with long tails have surprised scientists with their brainpower, and this magpie quiz explores what they can do. Play an interactive set of 10 questions on the mirror test, the corvid family, the shiny-object myth, face recognition, food caching, the counting rhyme, Korean good-luck magpies, Australian magpie swooping and their social life.

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🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

Test
What did a 2008 study show about Eurasian magpies?
First
What was historic about this result?
Family
Which bird family do Eurasian magpies belong to?
Shiny
What did a 2014 study find about magpies and shiny objects?
Faces
What can magpies remember about people?
Cache
What do magpies often do with extra food?
Rhyme
Which traditional counting rhyme features magpies?
Korea
What do magpies symbolize in Korea?
Australia
Why are Australian magpies famous in spring?
Social
How do magpies often live?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: What did a 2008 study show about Eurasian magpies?
Answer: They can pass the mirror self-recognition test
Marks on their feathers prompted self-directed behavior.
Q2: What was historic about this result?
Answer: First non-mammal shown to pass the test
Apes and dolphins had passed before.
Q3: Which bird family do Eurasian magpies belong to?
Answer: Corvids
Crows and ravens are relatives.
Q4: What did a 2014 study find about magpies and shiny objects?
Answer: They tend to avoid them rather than steal them
The thief reputation is largely a myth.
Q5: What can magpies remember about people?
Answer: Individual human faces
They may scold people who bothered them.
Q6: What do magpies often do with extra food?
Answer: Hide it for later
This is called caching.
Q7: Which traditional counting rhyme features magpies?
Answer: One for sorrow, two for joy
It is an old British rhyme.
Q8: What do magpies symbolize in Korea?
Answer: Good news and luck
They are much loved there.
Q9: Why are Australian magpies famous in spring?
Answer: Some swoop at people near their nests
They are not close relatives of Eurasian magpies.
Q10: How do magpies often live?
Answer: In social groups with complex behavior
Young birds learn from adults.

Magpie Quiz – The Mirror Test and Corvid Intelligence

The Eurasian magpie is a corvid, related to crows and ravens. In 2008 German researchers reported that magpies could pass the mirror self-recognition test, trying to remove marks on their feathers seen in a mirror, the first non-mammals shown to do so.

Magpies remember individual human faces and hide extra food for later. Despite their reputation, a 2014 study found they tend to avoid shiny objects rather than steal them.

Magpies appear in the old rhyme one for sorrow, two for joy, and in Korea they symbolize good news. Australian magpies, which belong to a different family, are famous for swooping at people near their nests in spring.

What This Quiz Teaches

Animal and science fans will enjoy these questions.

What the mirror test showed
Which family magpies belong to
Which myths are wrong
How they treat people
What they symbolize

Did You Know?

Magpie nests often have a domed roof.
They are found across Europe and Asia.
Their tails make up about half their length.
Groups sometimes gather around dead birds.
They are omnivores that eat insects and seeds.