Animals & nature · 2011
Can being raised by another bird species change where a bird finds food for life?
Yes. In a field experiment with wild blue tits and great tits, birds raised by the other species shifted where they searched for food toward the foster species’ pattern, and the effect lasted for life. This was a shift toward that pattern, not evidence that their feeding habits became identical.
Details
Researchers moved eggs between blue tit and great tit nests in the wild, so the young were raised by the other species. Most previous insights into social learning in birds had come from captivity.
The birds later searched for food in places more like those used by their foster species. Analysis of the prey they collected supported a consistent shift across seasons, and the effect lasted for life. They also used their early experience when feeding their own young. This suggests that learned feeding habits can pass across generations in the wild, but does not establish how reliably that happens.
The accompanying literature review suggests that being drawn to places other birds use may matter more for learning where to find food than copying their actions. Depending on ecological conditions, learning through those places alone may be enough for feeding habits to be passed on faithfully. This is a proposed interpretation from the review, not a mechanism established by the egg-exchange experiment.
What do you think?
Good conversations begin with curiosity.
You can read comments without an account. Sign in to write.
Loading comments…