S8 Ep147: Wildlife Intelligence: Magpie Alliances and Cockatoo Defense — Jeremy Zakis — Zakis discussed his dog Dallas, who has become a skilled magpie whisperer, having cultivated alliances with five distinct magpie families throughout the neighborhood. Dallas dem

The John Batchelor Show

John Batchelor

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4.5 • 2.8K Ratings

🗓️ 30 November 2025

⏱️ 9 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Wildlife Intelligence: Magpie Alliances and Cockatoo Defense — Jeremy Zakis — Zakis discussed his dog Dallas, who has become a skilled magpie whisperer, having cultivated alliances with five distinct magpie families throughout the neighborhood. Dallas demonstrates affection and respect toward the birds through deliberate head-bowing behavior, effectively communicating non-threatening intent. Dallas also actively protects the property from destructive Australiancockatoos seeking food and nesting sites. As summer approaches, other wildlife including kangaroos and wombats are increasingly emerging from natural habitat areas into residential neighborhoods.

Transcript

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0:00.0	There's no better feeling than waking up surrounded by comfort from Dunelm, the home of your kind of cosy.
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0:24.9	The home of your kind of cozy, Denelm.
0:27.8	The Home of Homes.
0:30.3	This is the Friends of Mr Debating Society.
0:33.0	I'm John Batchel in southern New England where it's coming winter.
0:36.6	Crisp days, 31, 27 at night. No real frost yet.
0:42.0	We've had a couple of brushes with it, but nothing that bit. The ground's still soft enough to dig in easily.
0:48.4	So when winter hits, the ground becomes solid. Snow flies mid-December to late December.
0:56.0	Depends.
0:56.9	We're expecting a normal New England winter, which we haven't had for several years.
1:01.9	There might never be another normal New England winter.
1:05.4	Climate patterns are changing over the world, including in Australia.
1:09.3	We go to New South Wales, Jeremy Zackas, telling the story
1:12.9	of coming summer, which begins in the month of December, and walks in the morning with his
1:18.1	11-year-old spoodle, Dallas, who turns out to be the bird dog of Australia, but not in the usual
1:26.0	bird dog way of chasing them down so the shotguns
1:28.8	can go to work.
1:29.5	No, no, no.
1:31.1	Jeremy has a dog that's turned into the pied piper of spoodles.
1:35.7	Jeremy, what's happened with the magpies and Dallas this week?
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