Individual recognition is the ability to differentiate between conspecifics based on their individual features. It forms the basis of many complex communicative and social behaviours. Here, we review studies investigating individual recognition in the auditory and visual domain in birds. It is well established that auditory signals are used by many birds to discriminate conspecifics. In songbirds, the neuronal structures underpinning auditory recognition are associated with the song system. Individual recognition in the visual domain has mainly been explored in chickens and pigeons, and is less well understood. Currently it is unknown which visual cues birds use to identify conspecifics, and whether they have cortical areas dedicated to processing individual features. Moreover, whether birds can recognise themselves visually, as evidenced by mirror self-recognition, remains controversial. In the auditory domain, the responses of neurons in the song system suggest identification of the bird’s own song. The surveyed behavioural and neural findings can provide a framework for more controlled investigations of individual recognition in birds and other species.

个体识别是根据特定特征区分同名异物的能力。它构成了许多复杂的沟通和社会行为的基础。在这里，我们回顾了研究在鸟类的听觉和视觉方面对个体识别的研究。众所周知，许多鸟类都使用听觉信号来区分物种。在鸣禽中，支持听觉识别的神经元结构与歌曲系统相关。视觉领域的个体识别主要是在鸡和鸽子中进行的，人们对此知之甚少。目前尚不清楚哪种视觉提示鸟用于识别物种，以及它们是否具有专门用于处理单个特征的皮质区域。而且，鸟类能否认出自己镜子自我识别证明，视觉上仍然存在争议。在听觉领域，歌曲系统中神经元的反应提示了对鸟自身歌曲的识别。被调查的行为和神经发现可以为鸟类和其他物种的个体识别的更受控调查提供框架。