Brilliant Birds Use Anti-Roosting Spikes to Their Advantage

STORY AT-A-GLANCE

• Crows and magpies are using anti-bird spikes to their advantage, creating nests out of the sharp metal pieces
• The spikes were not only used to add structure but may even serve the purpose of keeping away predators
• The dome-shaped roof of one magpie nest contained 61 anti-bird strips made up of 604 metal spikes that together amounted to 16.72 meters of anti-bird strips
• It’s possible the birds are choosing the metal spikes as replacements for natural branches simply because thorny twigs are difficult to find in cities, but future research may also delve into whether birds have a preference for one material over the other
• Separate research found that 176 bird species include man-made materials like plastic in their nests, which poses both benefits and risks to birds