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Mindy Weisberger (she/her)

Be ungovernable, like birds who make nests OUT OF ANTI-BIRD SPIKES. A new study describes resourceful Dutch & Belgian corvids besting evil architecture by stealing metal anti-bird strips and using them like thorny twigs, to construct their homes.

Like thorns, the spikes may protect their nests from predators.

Lead author Auke-Florian Hiemstra wrote an epic 🧵 about his research that's worth a read: twitter.com/AukeFlorian/status

Paper: hetnatuurhistorisch.nl/organis

#science #SciComm #birds #netherlands

88 comments
Amandine B (She/Her)

@laminda that's so interesting, thanks for sharing.
I just checked the link. If you don't have an account, Twitter now lets you see the first tweet but not the answers. Not ideal to see a thread. I'll check the paper 😊

0x575446

@laminda That makes me want to go steal a bunch of anti-homeless benches.

Jonathan T

@laminda @Akki The most surprising thing about this to me is that the spikes in the photos aren't covered in pigeon feathers from when they've been calmly lying on them.

Heather

@JonnyT @laminda maybe the weather washed them away. Or they were fresh spikes not tacked down securely.

Alan

@laminda It’s nature-based representation of software open source licenses like the Gnu Public License (GPL). Using copyright law to keep software Free.

The business version of this is worker #cooperatives to create a better space for workers in capitalism.

MSavoritias

@metaphase @laminda

cooperatives are socialism, not capitalism.

so the comparison is more like unions are the gpl of the capitalistic system. where they try to stop some of the damage.

but the actual solution being #publicdomain aka abolish copyright. same as cooperatives are the solution to leave capitalism behind :)

Alan

@msavoritias @laminda If a bird can create a nest from anti-bird spikes, one can perhaps aspire to create a pocket of socialism within spikier unfriendly capitalism.

These are intermediate ways of being, and taking steps between where we are and where we could be.

Ellie 🏴🏳️‍⚧️

@msavoritias @metaphase @laminda

Cooperatives are not socialism. Capitalism isn't when bosses, capitalism is private property and the capitalist mode of production, bosses are a symptom of that.

Worker coops get rid of the bosses, but maintain the existence of private property (the coop is private property of its workers), wage labour and the profit motive, and are subject to market forces (ie they compete with other companies and so their options to better the working conditions are limited). Therefore in a coop the same capitalist exploitation takes place, only that it is self managed. This would not change if every company was a coop.

Sure, coops are better than other companies for a variety of reasons, but they're still entities firmly within the capitalist system. They're ✨social democracy +✨, not socialism.

Like unions, they can pave the way towards socialism though.

*runs*

@msavoritias @metaphase @laminda

Cooperatives are not socialism. Capitalism isn't when bosses, capitalism is private property and the capitalist mode of production, bosses are a symptom of that.

Worker coops get rid of the bosses, but maintain the existence of private property (the coop is private property of its workers), wage labour and the profit motive, and are subject to market forces (ie they compete with other companies and so their options to better the working conditions are limited). Therefore...

br00t4c

@laminda That is a *hilarious* form of resilience. That made my day. Also: "Be ungovernable" #goals

Kevin Leecaster

@laminda
A new study describes resourceful Dutch & Belgian corvids besting evil architecture by stealing metal anti-bird strips and using them like thorny twigs, to construct their homes. @ct_bergstrom

Rick Rae

@laminda

Proof once more that corvids are wicked smart.

IronCladLou

@laminda that is so punk rock. I freakin love it!! 🖤🖤

logienick

@laminda @ScienceDesk Rooks rockin’ it and crows catchin’ up! ♥️

Beanface42 :ch_Fribourg: ⏚

@laminda so nice that the paper is available! Nature is amazing and surprising, always! Thank you very much for the share!

nypinta🌻

@clintruin @laminda Why would anyone take the time to do this? WTAF.

Kid Mania

@nypinta @laminda
I'm telling you--humanity--a virus with shoes.

Dr. Med Johannes M. ✅

@nypinta @clintruin @laminda is it against raccoons or someone has his cabriolet parked under it

Syulang

@clintruin @laminda Humans. "What if trees, but hostile architecture?"

Ragnell the Mildly Unpleasant

@clintruin @laminda Who the fuck finds that more attractive than just having a bird or two in the tree?

Slightlyodd

@laminda
I'd love to read the thread, but Twitter is being stroppy....
Any chance for a non Twitter source?

Oskar im Keller

@mynameisodd @laminda

If you follow the link to the paper you can download the research paper (in English).

Slightlyodd

@OskarImKeller
Thx, I was a bit confused and clicked the "wrong" paper first.
All good now.
And wow, my feathery friends. Just wow.

YAYSUU

@laminda the equivalent of using the wrong formula but getting the right answer

JetPixi

@laminda so much badass in such a little body

Jephary

@laminda

Those are some badass nests. Amazing.

Mark W. Alexander

@laminda

They're corvids. It's just a matter of time before they start developing them into weapons.

Annette C. Boehm

@laminda as if we needed another reason to love corvids... :) #corvid

AlgoCompSynth by znmeb

@laminda Calling someone a birdbrain is a compliment 😈

Joachim Heistinger

@laminda The famous dutch fuque toi bird aka fuckus chirpus... 🤣

BlackDutchSnark

@laminda leave it to the crowd to find a workaround🐦‍⬛👑

Marie (she/her)

@laminda i love this so much. there's such a literary metaphor here.

SarahBurnout🍥

@laminda this goes well with the observations of cockatoos ripping those anti-bird strips out and tossing them over the side.

Bjørn Larssen 🇺🇦 🏳️‍🌈

@laminda If there is something that makes me happy… this is it.

Lexianlily

@laminda corvids are terribly smart. They will rule the world when we humans have offed ourselves

Comrade Weez

@laminda European corvids are one up on Australian sulfur crested cockatoos who were ripping anti-bird spikes off a building and chucking them at people theguardian.com/environment/20

Derek Caelin 🌱

@laminda I loved this quote:

"We should not deter birds, we should embrace birds and live together with them,” said Moeliker. “These birds are very smart and they always find ways to cope with the harsh urban life. I’m very sympathetic towards these crows and magpies. They are my heroes.”

DELETED

@laminda

Perfect. My new favorite bird.

"Life finds a way." And sometimes flips you off in the process.

glittalogik

@laminda I was privileged to witness this glorious moment in person :) These little legends spent over an hour demolishing these spikes and dropping them onto the pavement, street, and pedestrians.

3paul_k

@laminda
Love it!

"Be ungovernable"

The 'system' is placing human equivalents of pigeon spikes all over the place to keep us worker bees in place. We should learn from corvids...

Fiadh (she/fae/it)

@laminda "The street finds its own uses for things"

Jens Finkhäuser 🌻

@laminda Tired: become ungovernable.
Wired: become like crows.

Dr Anke Marsh

@laminda yes yes yes!!!!! Go Corvids!!!! This has made my day, thanks for posting

Jake Rayson

@laminda anti-bird spikes, in a tree, this is a whole new level of wrong

The Evil Microwizard

@laminda Just as William Gibson said, "The street finds its own uses for things"...

Zeiros Lion

@laminda
Leave it to the corvids to turn hostile architecture into something useful and beautiful. Rock on corvids!

Love4ALL

@laminda As Sting sang in "King of Pain": "That's my soul up there."

Sherra

@laminda JFC, I had no idea there was such a thing as anti-bird spikes. 🤢 We spend lots of effort making our garden be about the birds! Go go go you subversive corvid beauties!

Terry

@laminda I deleted my twitter account. Is there any way to read it without logging in or clicking on the link?

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