Rooster in the mirror: these birds may be smarter than we thought (www.cbc.ca)

submitted 4 months ago by usernamesAreTricky@lemmy.ml to c/science@lemmy.world

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TL;DR: New method of the mirror test shows self awareness in roosters. General suggestion that the mirror tests that have done in the past may have been misleading/not getting the right picture

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[-] iiGxC@slrpnk.net 7 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Chickens and turkeys are super smart and friendly. I've met a few turkeys rescued from turkey farms and they try to preen you as a sign of affection 😊

even if they weren't smart or nice, their lives are not ours to take, regardless of how much you like the taste of their flesh

[-] I_Has_A_Hat@lemmy.world 6 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

I take issue with the way the old mirror test is administered by seeing if they react to a mark on their body only visible in a mirror. It doesn't account for the fact that the animal might... just not give a shit if it's marked. Dogs apparently fail the mirror test, but mine and plenty of other dogs will turn and look at you if they spot you in a mirror and you wave or do something to get their attention, so clearly dogs understand the concept of reflections enough to know what they're looking at.