Mirrors and self recognition

[bigfellasdad]

Most animals do not realise a mirrors reflection is itself. Enzo just had a down feather stuck on the top of her head and she would not let me take it off. I took her to the mirror and pointed at the feather and she shook her head then scratched the feather off with her foot. She totally understood it was her own reflection

 

[noodles123]

awesome!!!!!

 

[Scott]

Numerous scientific studies have verified the keen intelligence of many bird species. Corvids in general, and certainly CAGs in the world of parrots.

I've shown my flock numerous pics and videos and there is no doubt a certain recognition is apparent.

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

I agree. A while back,I had one of those electric "fire place" type heaters in my living room. Amy was out walking the floor,and she walked by the glass front of the fire place ( it was off of course) and he stopped,looked at his reflection,and said "Hi Bird" lol
At least he knew what it was lmao



Jim

 

[GaleriaGila]

My darling is not very bright, bless him. Can't figure out foraging toys... gets baffled by obstacles... looks in a mirror and has no response at all. I don't think he realizes it has anything to do with him. I don't think he realizes it is even a bird. I don't think he knows what birds are. "Bird? What's birds?"

 

[noodles123]

No good mirror stories here (mine ignores them) but..I have a weird folk-ark bird from Mexico (kind of like a stuffed animal) and my bird saw it and said, "Hello bird" lol.

 

[TiredOldMan]

My darling is not very bright, bless him. Can't figure out foraging toys... gets baffled by obstacles... looks in a mirror and has no response at all. I don't think he realizes it has anything to do with him. I don't think he realizes it is even a bird. I don't think he knows what birds are. "Bird? What's birds?"

The RB knows what a bird is. He just doesn't consider himself to be one.

 

[GaleriaGila]

My darling is not very bright, bless him. Can't figure out foraging toys... gets baffled by obstacles... looks in a mirror and has no response at all. I don't think he realizes it has anything to do with him. I don't think he realizes it is even a bird. I don't think he knows what birds are. "Bird? What's birds?"

The RB knows what a bird is. He just doesn't consider himself to be one.

Now that rings true (even as much as I joke about how he chases hens). He's clearly mis-imprinted (the breeder pulled him from the nest and hand-fed). Yeah, he isn't a bird at all, is he?

 

[ChristaNL]

That was one of the ALEX unplanned discoveries.

(I hope I remember it the right way around)

One of the interns took Alex with her to the restroom (if you've got to go, you got to go, and it probably was pretty urgent) and put him (her?) in front of a mirror.
(they still wanted to do the 'recognise yourself in the mirror'-test, so Alex was kept far away from them till that point)
So that was one controlled test down the drain .... - but Alex immediately wanted to know "what colour" he/she was (it was that phase where Alex was learning to name colours).

( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_(parrot) )


I get crazy reactions sometimes... Sunny was kind of obsessed with her image when she just arrived here and would steer me towards a mirror (by hanging / leaning in that direction) but nowadays she doesn't care at all.
She has probably seen what she wanted?
She would grab a finger (mine) lift it, bite down on it (thanks but no thanks!) a bit too hard, while looking at herself, almost to make sure that what she saw was what she felt (of the other way around) - is this real? It feels real ...
so what I see.... must be me!


But none of the parrots ever react to their own reflection like they would towards another bird - so they know!
.

 

[bigfellasdad]

Enzo cares less when I normally pass a mirror though. Really no interest at all. But with the feather she acted upon it

 

[cnyguy]

My apartment has mirrored doors on most of the closets. One day, I had my old YCA George sitting a few feet away from one of the mirrored doors, and he seemed fascinated by his reflection. I asked him, "Who's that funny parrot in the mirror?" and he answered "George." He hadn't really had any exposure to mirrors before that.
When I first brought Ralph the QP home, he tried to attack the "other bird" in the mirror. After a while, he stopped doing that, just giving his reflection a quick glance. Whether or not he knows he's seeing himself, he seems to realize that he's only seeing the image of a bird and not another real parrot.

 

[LordTriggs]

Numerous scientific studies have verified the keen intelligence of many bird species. Corvids in general, and certainly CAGs in the world of parrots.

I've shown my flock numerous pics and videos and there is no doubt a certain recognition is apparent.

yup I remember reading about the mirror test and how the initial studies with corvids was a major breakthrough and completely changed the way the brain was viewed, as all birds lack the part of the brain scientists thought was responsible for self cognition. Also dogs actually failed this test though scientists then adapted the test to use smells as that's canine's primary sense. Interesting stuff!

 

[bigfellasdad]

Interesting. So you are saying what I saw was coincidence?

 

[YUMgrinder]

maybe what he saw was a feather on an image of a bird and even though he didn't know it was him, he was like "HEY YOU BIRD! YOU HAVE SOMETHING RIGHT UP HERE" *scratch scratch*

 

[DRB]

Perjo recognizes herself in the mirror, so much so that she walks to the door that has mirror on it hoping to see herself but the mirror is too high off the ground

Probably make her a step to walk up to the mirror