04/20/2026
Listening to a magpie's call is one of the joys of an Australian morning. But their gentle warbles may be more than simple sounds.
Australian scientists have discovered young magpies are capable of calls so complex, they're being likened to human sentences.
Animal linguist Dr Stephanie Mason, along with a team of researchers, has been researching magpie vocals as part of University of WA's 'WA Magpie Research Project'.
Following 11 fledgling magpies for 200 days, Dr Mason said they "found the first evidence of learned syntax outside of humans".
"Finding that capacity in another animal and being able to show that it's learned just like toddlers learn it, is very exciting," she said.
"We're very distant from birds ... so to be able to show parallels in distant relatives is actually really exciting because it means we can look specifically at, regardless of genetics, why have these two very different species developed these really similar abilities."
