Crows and magpies using anti-bird spikes to build nests, researchers find

Crows and magpies using anti-bird spikes to build nests, researchers find
Dutch study identifies several examples of corvids’ ‘amazing’ ability to adapt to the urban environment


Tue 11 Jul 2023 10.41 EDT
Birds have never shied away from turning human rubbish into nesting materials, but even experts in the field have raised an eyebrow at the latest handiwork to emerge from urban crows and magpies.

Nests recovered from trees in Rotterdam in the Netherlands and Antwerp in Belgium were found to be constructed almost entirely from strips of long metal spikes that are often attached to buildings to deter birds from setting up home on the structures.

The discovery prompted researchers at the Natural History Museum in Rotterdam and the Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden to scour the internet for further examples, leading to the identification of another anti-bird spike nest in Glasgow. One of the reviewers of the study then flagged a fourth nest in Enschede in the Netherlands.