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Mirror-Induced Behavior in the Magpie: Evidence of Self-Recognition

Mirror-Induced Behavior in the Magpie: Evidence of Self-Recognition. Introduction. Certain birds may have similar mental abilities to those that are found in apes Magpies were put through three different tests

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Mirror-Induced Behavior in the Magpie: Evidence of Self-Recognition

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  1. Mirror-Induced Behavior in the Magpie: Evidence of Self-Recognition

  2. Introduction • Certain birds may have similar mental abilities to those that are found in apes • Magpies were put through three different tests • Open Mirror Test; Mirror Preference and Standardized Mirror Exploration; and the Mark Test • Subjects: 5 hand-raised magpies

  3. Open Mirror Test - Methods • Subjects placed in a 4 m x 4 m room • 55 cm wide x 40 cm high mirror leaning on a pole in the middle of the room • 5 test sessions for each subject, 30 minutes each

  4. Open Mirror Test - Results • Behavior of birds clearly different between mirror and non-mirror trials • Exploratory behavior seen • Close inspection and looking behind mirror • Social behavior • For three birds, reduced at least on the second exposure

  5. Mirror Preference and Standardized Mirror Exploration - Method • Cage with two opposite, identical compartments (60 cm long x 100 cm high x 60 cm wide), one with a mirror and one with a grey, non-reflective plate • Birds had 5 consecutive trials, 20 minutes each, on separate days

  6. Mirror Preference and Standardized Mirror Exploration - Results • Birds chose between two compartments • Three birds spent a significant amount of time in mirror compartment • Close visual exploration, contingency testing Link Link

  7. Mark Test - Methods • Birds were in eight 20 minute sessions with four conditions, 2 in each condition • All subjects marked with either black or colored markunder the beak • Scoring: Looked for social behaviors and behavior directed towards the bird’s own body and the mark • 120 x 100 x 60 cm (l x h x w) cage

  8. A & B – Mark-directed behaviors • C & D – Self-directed behaviors • Testing conditions: • Yellow/red mark with mirror • Black (sham) mark with mirror • Yellow/red mark without mirror • Black (sham) mark without mirror

  9. Mark Test - Results • Three birds showed signs of self-directed behavior in the first exposure to the mirror with the mark • Mark directed behavior stopped with removal of mark

  10. Discussion • Why did the birds try so hard to get rid of the mark? • Subjects that showed interest in mirrors showed at lest one sign of mark-directed behavior • Proportion of positive findings about the same as apes

  11. Link

  12. Problems With the Study • Sample size too small-only 5 birds used • Number of mark-directed behaviors conservative because of removal of marks by birds • Black control mark conditions had some mark-directed behaviors as well

  13. What does this study prove? • Magpies have the capability for mirror self-recognition • First (to authors’ knowledge) non-mammalian species found to have this capability

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