Notornis, 54 (4), 116-117
Article Type: short note
[First paragraph…] Members of the parvorder Corvida, including the Australian magpie Gymnorhina tibicen, have a relatively high level of innovative behaviour amongst birds (Timmermans et al. 2000; Lefebvre et al. 2004). An example of this behaviour is tool use in Corvus spp. (Hunt 1996; Caffrey 2000). Although Australian magpies (magpies hereafter) are known to manipulate objects in behaviour such as play (Pellis 1981ab; Kaplan 2004) they have not been reported to use tools. Here, I report a possible case of tool use by an adult magpie.