Birds also know how to mirror

German scientists discovered that magpie can recognize their image in the mirror. This is the first time people have witnessed this phenomenon in a non-mammal species.

For many years, scientists believe that only humans and some primates, like chimpanzees, have the ability to identify their own reflection. Some birds react when standing in front of a mirror, but no one is quite sure they recognize the reflection of themselves.

Dr. Helmut Prior and a number of colleagues at Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany conducted a series of experiments on evil birds.

Evil birds are of the Crow family.They are smart and famous for their curiosity for light-colored objects.Photo: dailylife.com.

In one experiment, the team placed yellow and red pieces of paper on the bird's body so that the animals could see them in the mirror.

When standing in front of a mirror, birds find ways to use beaks and claws to scratch the pieces of paper on their bodies. In many cases they succeed in removing paper pieces from the body.

Similar behavior does not occur when the team pastes black pieces of paper on the birds' bodies. They may not recognize "strange objects" because their fur is also black.

When the mirrors are removed, the animals don't notice the pieces of paper anymore.

"We do not claim that evil birds are capable of self-awareness or self-identity as human beings. However, the results show that magpie have a reaction when standing in front of a mirror, an act similar to animals. Primate, elephant and dolphin This behavior is an important premise for self-consciousness in animals, " scientists wrote in Plos Biology.