Tolerance of Australian Magpies Gymnorhina tibicen Towards Humans: A Comparison Along an Urban Gradient

Abstract

The flight-initiation distance, alert distance and several dependent variables were measured to examine the tolerance of Australian Magpies Gymnorhina tibicen towards an approaching human. Comparisons were made between Magpie populations located at differing points along the urban gradient. The results show a high degree of intraspecific variation in the responses to humans. Magpies living in urbanised areas, where more frequent human contacts are experienced, responded in a highly habituated manner, whereas Magpies located in rural and semi-natural areas gave a typical fear response when a human approached them. Furthermore, following an approach by a human, the Magpies in rural and semi-natural areas always flew away and remained absent for some time. In contrast, Magpies in urbanised areas either flew away or walked away, often only a short distance. A small percentage of suburban Magpies responded in a highly aggressive manner and attacked the human intruder; such aggressive behaviours were not observed in Magpies located in rural or semi-natural areas.