Avian Ultraviolet Vision And Frequency-Dependent Seed Preferences
It is well established that ultraviolet sensitivity plays an important role in the visually guided behaviour of birds. From a foraging perspective, evidence now exists that ultraviolet wavelengths are used by birds when foraging for insects, berries, seeds and mammals. Here, we present the results of two laboratory experiments that test the effect of removing […]
Pairs of zebra finches with similar ‘personalities’ make better parents
Although behavioural plasticity should be an advantage in a varying world, there is increasing evidence for widespread stable individual differences in the behaviour of animals: that is, [`]personality’. Here we provide evidence suggesting that sexual selection is an important factor in the evolution of personality in species with biparental care. We carried out a cross-fostering […]
Parental care in wild and captive zebra finches: measuring food delivery to quantify parental effort
Although the zebra finch, Taeniopygia guttata, has been a very important model system for the study of intrafamilial conflict and parental strategies, a detailed understanding of the variation in parental effort that can occur both within and between pairs is lacking. In part this is because many different methods have been used by individual studies […]
Sex differences, social context and personality in zebra finches, Taeniopygia guttata
Despite burgeoning interest in consistent individual differences in behaviour (animal [`]personality’), the influence of social interactions on the performance of different behavioural types is poorly understood. Similarly, the ecological and evolutionary consequences of personality differences in social contexts remain unexplored. Moreover, the possibility that the sexes differ in the degree to which they exhibit personality […]
Personality affects zebra finch feeding success in a producer-scrounger game
Recent evidence strongly suggests that natural selection can favour the evolution of consistent individual differences in behaviour ([`]personalities’). Indeed, personality shows heritable variation and has been linked to fitness in many species. However, the fitness effects of personality are highly variable within and between species. Furthermore, the nature of the causal influence of personality on […]
Yolk androgens and embryo sex: Maternal effects or confounding factors?
Maternal effects occur when offspring phenotype is affected by environmental factors experienced by the mother and, in egg-laying species, are often mediated via egg resources. There is currently great interest among behavioural ecologists in maternally allocated yolk androgens, especially their relationship with offspring sex and development. Such studies need embryonic tissue for sexing, however, requiring […]
Visual pigments and oil droplets from six classes of photoreceptor in the retinas of birds
Microspectrophotometric examination of the retinal photoreceptors of the budgerigar (shell parakeet), Melopsittacus undulatus (Psittaciformes) and the zebra finch, Taeniopygia guttata (Passeriformes), demonstrate the presence of four, spectrally distinct classes of single cone that contain visualpigments absorbing maximally at about 565, 507, 430–445 and 360–380 nm. The three longer-wave cone classes contain coloured oildroplets acting as […]
Phenotypic plasticity of avian social-learning strategies
Social learning, whereby animals learn from others, mediates the spread of information through social networks. To make this process adaptive, animals should be selective with respect to when and whom to copy. The cost of decision making can be curbed by cognitive biases favouring particular categories of individuals. Such model biases are well documented, but […]
Hatching asynchrony and offspring sex influence the subsequent exploratory behaviour of zebra finches
The ecological and evolutionary consequences of variation in behaviour between individuals are well studied, yet the causes of such variation remain poorly understood. Parents can generally exert a great deal of influence on the early life of their offspring, so one possibility is that the mode of parental investment determines subsequent offspring behaviours. In birds, […]
Olfactory imprinting as a mechanism for nest odour recognition in zebra finches
Olfactory communication is widespread across the animal kingdom but until recently was believed to be unimportant in songbirds. However, recent studies of zebra finches, Taeniopygia guttata, have found that fledglings are capable of recognizing their own nest based on olfactory cues alone. This raises the important question of whether this knowledge is learned or innate. […]