Do birds recognise themselves in the mirror? Amy Arthur takes a look at the evidence
If you looked into a mirror and thought your reflection was somebody else, you’d fail the mirror test. To recognise that the image was you, you’d have to understand that ‘you’ are a being. You’d be self-aware.
The mirror test, then, is used to test animal’s self-awareness. Bonobos and bottlenose dolphins are among the animals who’ve passed, though many other species failed. Of the birds tested, only the magpie and the domestic pigeon passed, while parrots, jackdaws and carrion crows failed.
Recently, researchers ran the mirror test with a waddle of 12 Adélie penguins. The birds did not display aggression or act as if the reflections were other individuals and instead were observed standing before the mirror, deliberately moving their heads and limbs while staring intently at the reflection’s movements. This, researchers tentatively said, suggests the penguins could possibly have self-awareness.
Main image: Adelie penguin © Getty Images