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clever magpies
German researchers have proven that magpies are able to recognise themselfs in a mirror, an ability that only the most intelligent of species possess. Untill now only humans, eliphants, white handed gibbons and dolphins were thought to be capable of this. So eventhough their brains are only the size of a pea, the magpie is the first non mammal to have shown this intelligence.
The research was done bu placing a coloured dot on magpies and placing them in front of a mirror together. Each magpie understood that the 'other' birds were only a reflection of themselfs and used the mirror to try and remove their dot.
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