Australian magpies can understand other bird calls, study finds

Magpies know meanings of different noisy miner calls and are able to eavesdrop to find out if predators are nearby

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Australian magpies can understand what other birds are saying to each other, a new study has found.

The research, published in the journal Animal Behaviour, says the wily magpie has learned the meanings of different noisy miner calls and essentially eavesdrops to find out which predators are near.