Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: Preventing Shadow Boxing through Habituation - A Pilot Study

Shadow boxing is the aggressive response of an animal to its reflection. When the species is strong enough to break surfaces (e.g., bear, monkey, woodpecker), this behaviour can lead to human-wildlife conflicts. In this pilot study, we assessed whether shadow boxing is subject to habituation (learning to ignore stimuli) in Southern ground-hornbills (Bucorvus leadbeateri). In the Mirror task, birds were repeatedly exposed to unbreakable mirrors (habituation). Subsequently, one mirror was presented at a different location (test). In the Neophobia task, a food reward was placed next to novel objects. Ground-hornbills did not habituate to the mirrors, but they differed in their levels of neophobia.