Magpie birds are known as some of the smartest on earth. They make tools, can imitate human speech and recreate songs they hear.
In the town of Esperance, in Western Australia a magpie fell out of a tree and was nursed back to health by Sandie Gillard. She named him Jellybean and for the past 3 years she would talk to Jellybean as she went outside to go to work and sometimes the bird would even knock on the door just to say hi.
Recently 68 year old Sandy fell from her 2nd-story window and was knocked unconscious on a cement driveway. She cracked her skull and dislocated her right arm.
Gillard has no memory of the fall but woke up to a purring sound and something tapping her on the forehead. It was Jellybean, who had found her unconscious body and was trying to wake her up. The bird's gentle tapping roused Gillard enough that she could call her husband, who arrived in time to call emergency services. Paramedics flew Gillard to the hospital where she was stabilized. Doctors told her that her brain was bleeding and if she had stayed unconscious much longer, she wouldn't have survived.
So the bird she saved a few years ago has repaid the favor by saving her life.