Food avoidance by adult house finches, Carpodacus mexicanus, affects seed preferences of offspring
Article Abstract:
A dislike for oats in adult house finches, Carpodacus mexicanus, decreases the preference of their offspring for oats. However, there is no link between the young birds' exposure to oats during the nestling stages and their later oat preferences. The behavior of five nestling pairs of captive adult house finches is studied by feeding them with hulled oats treated with an aversive chemical, methiocarb. The offspring are then separated from the adults and given untreated food. The observed differences in oat preferences may be attributed to social learning through parental contact.
Publication Name: Animal Behaviour
Subject: Zoology and wildlife conservation
ISSN: 0003-3472
Year: 1996
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
Foraging strategy in a social bird, the alpine chough: Effect of variation in quantity and distribution of food
Article Abstract:
The assumption that social associations between flock members affects flocking behavior in social species has been tested. Alpine choughs were studied to determine whether individual foraging efficiency decreases when competition increases. A fall in the amount of available food reduced the size of the flock, although fewer sites only reduced the proportion of birds having access to food. Food competition did not influence the number of choughs foraging, and females were found to compete less well than males.
Publication Name: Animal Behaviour
Subject: Zoology and wildlife conservation
ISSN: 0003-3472
Year: 1999
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
Interference competition and the functional response of oystercatchers searching for cockles by touch
Article Abstract:
Interference competition for food in oystercatchers, Haematopus ostralegus feeding on cockles, was examined. The probability of opening a cockle fell significantly as competitor density increased, and birds were more likely to carry cockles away. An optimal diet model showed that competitor density had only a negligible impact on overall intake rates. The dynamics of the process need to take into account the range of potentially complicated avoidance behaviours.
Publication Name: Animal Behaviour
Subject: Zoology and wildlife conservation
ISSN: 0003-3472
Year: 1998
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
- Abstracts: Venom metering by juvenile prairie rattlesnakes, Crotalus v. viridis: effects of prey size and experience. Strike-induced chemosensory searching and trailing behaviour in neonatal rattlesnakes
- Abstracts: A test for the insurance industry: Life insurers claim they stand to lose unless allowed access to applicants' genetic information, but consumers insist such data should remain out of bounds
- Abstracts: Wintering diving duck use of coastal ponds: an analysis of alternative hypotheses. Foods used by male mallards wintering in southeastern Missouri
- Abstracts: An amniote-like skeleton from the Early Carboniferous of Scotland. A complete skeleton of the giant South American primate Protopithecus
- Abstracts: How not to act on good advice. Likely size of the French BSE epidemic. Spending on BSE research