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Christ I hate this ifad. It really is the devils own work.
Your magpie Nick, was almost certainly raised by a human before being released/getting lost into the wild. Since the general consensus is that human raised magpies, crows, etc, lack the survival skills to exist unaided in the wild, it is nice hear of an example to suggest otherwise. I had a completely tame magpie (for 18 years) who was an excellent mimic of not only me, but also car alarms. IME adult wild magpies are impossible to tame properly - hand reared they become incredibly tame.
I've also seen a pair of crows high up in the sky constantly harassing a bird of prey as it was flying along (don't think there was any food involved but corvidae don't like birds of prey as the provide competition) The bird of prey (don't know what species) just regularly tilted as it flew to show the crows that it was fully armed, ie, with talons, that made them keep their distance.
Agreed, all the Corvus family are very bright. When I was a kid, one of my friends had a pet Jackdaw. It didn't mimic much, but would caw back to you if you said his name, play fetch with a small ball, play dead, roll over, and generally act more dog than bird! Also followed us most places, but never more than about 1/2 a mile from its home.
I always wanted a Jackdaw since as the most gregarious of the family I have always assumed they would make the best pets. Although magpies are excellent in that respect - my hand reared one absolutely adored me !
IME Jays are not good with humans as they are instinctively too shy and solitary. I've had a hand reared Jay and as an adult it really wasn't tame at all. Although I guess it probably also varies considerably between individuals - I have two crows at the moment, one is 23 years old this year, and they couldn't be more different character wise.
That cat fight video is amazing, the Hooded Crows goading and provoking the cats just really funny.
I'm more impressed that the cats somehow managed to choreograph the whole fight to dramatic music.