Mirror Self-Recognition In Birds

by Stowe Boyd

It seems that more and more animals have the ability to recognize themselves in mirrors, which is generally considered an indication of self awareness of a high level.

Recently, a study with magpies -- a member of the Corvidae family of birds, which includes jays, crows, and ravens -- revealed that corvids share this ability with primates, dolphins, and elephants:

[from The Magpie in the Mirror -- Morell 2008 (819): 1 -- ScienceNOW by Virginia Morell]

Because corvids, the family of birds that includes magpies, ravens, and jays, are also highly social, Prior decided to test them, selecting magpies specifically because they are "very curious and observant." [Helmut] Prior and his team first placed five birds--one at a time--in a cage with two compartments, one of which contained a mirror. Three magpies spent most of their time in the section with the mirror, looking behind it, or moving back and forth in front of it--in essence, learning what it does. Then, the scientists affixed red, yellow, or black dots to the feathers beneath the magpies' beaks and placed the birds in cages with mirrors. Because the black dots closely matched the color of the birds' feathers, they served as a control for whether the birds merely felt the dots on their bodies.

As the researchers report today in PLoS Biology, two of the birds, Goldie and Gerti, spotted the dots on their reflections and tried to peck and scratch these off, suggesting that they passed the MSR test. If the birds were in mirrorless cages, they didn't touch the dots. Although only two birds seemed to show self-awareness, Prior says that this is similar to the success rate in chimpanzees.

Magpies are extremely social creatures, as are other species displaying MSR, so it might be that MSR is related to social awareness.