Offbeat

Humans have made the world less hospitable for birds in many ways. One obvious and intentional example of this can be found in towns and cities worldwide: anti-bird spikes. The pointy wires you might see attached to roofs, ledges, and light poles are meant to deter urban species like pigeons from landing, pooping, and even nesting where people don’t want them to. But in an avian act of poetic justice, a handful of European birds have struck back.

Apparently Carrion Crows and Eurasian Magpies are stealing and repurposing the spikes as a nest-building material. Nests featuring the deterrent were documented in a study published Tuesday in the Dutch journal Deinsea, an online periodical from the Natural History Museum Rotterdam.