Distance and the presentation of visual stimuli to birds

Dawkins, Marian Stamp; Woodington, Alan

doi:10.1006/anbe.1997.0519

Cited by 31 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Chickens, like most birds, depend highly on well-developed visual abilities which allow them to focus close-up and far away at the same time in different parts of their visual field (Dawkins 1995; Dawkins and Woodington 1997), and see a broader range of colors than humans (Ham and Osorio 2007). Chickens can detect both low- and high-frequency sound at a variety of pressure levels.…”

Section: Sensory Abilitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thinking chickens: a review of cognition, emotion, and behavior in the domestic chicken

Marino¹

2017

Anim Cogn

213

167

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Domestic chickens are members of an order, Aves, which has been the focus of a revolution in our understanding of neuroanatomical, cognitive, and social complexity. At least some birds are now known to be on par with many mammals in terms of their level of intelligence, emotional sophistication, and social interaction. Yet, views of chickens have largely remained unrevised by this new evidence. In this paper, I examine the peer-reviewed scientific data on the leading edge of cognition, emotions, personality, and sociality in chickens, exploring such areas as self-awareness, cognitive bias, social learning and self-control, and comparing their abilities in these areas with other birds and other vertebrates, particularly mammals. My overall conclusion is that chickens are just as cognitively, emotionally and socially complex as most other birds and mammals in many areas, and that there is a need for further noninvasive comparative behavioral research with chickens as well as a re-framing of current views about their intelligence.

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Section: Sensory Abilitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thinking chickens: a review of cognition, emotion, and behavior in the domestic chicken

Marino¹

2017

Anim Cogn

213

167

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…High‐definition sequences of audience hens and stimulus males were played directly from a Sony HDV 1080i tape deck to a Sony flat panel plasma display (model PFM – 42X1; 105.8 cm measured diagonally), which was placed facing the subject’s cage 30 cm from one end. We selected this distance based upon characteristics of the fowl visual system (Dawkins & Woodington 1997); it allowed males to approach as they would a conspecific, but not close enough to resolve individual pixels, which would likely have compromised the realism of the simulation. Like the TFT panels used in recent successful mate‐choice experiments with quail ( Coturnix japonica ; Ophir & Galef 2003), plasma displays offer clear advantages over the CRT monitors used in the first video playback experiments with birds (Evans & Marler 1991).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Behavioral Syndromes in Stable Social Groups: An Artifact of External Constraints?

2008

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Individuals of many species differ consistently in their behavioral reactions toward different stimuli, such as predators, rivals, and potential mates. These typical reactions, described as ‘behavioral syndromes’ or ‘personalities,’ appear to be heritable and therefore subject to selection. We studied behavioral syndromes in 36 male fowl living in 12 social groups and found that individuals behaved consistently over time. Furthermore, responses to different contexts (anti‐predator, foraging, and territorial) were inter‐correlated, suggesting that males exhibited comparable behavioral traits in these functionally distinct situations. We subsequently isolated the same roosters and conducted tests in a ‘virtual environment,’ using high‐resolution digital video sequences to simulate the anti‐predator, foraging, and territorial contexts that they had experienced outdoors. Under these controlled conditions, repeatability persisted but individual responses to the three classes of stimuli failed to predict one another. These were instead context‐specific. In particular, production of each type of vocal signal was independent, implying that calls in the repertoire are controlled by distinct mechanisms. Our results show that extrinsic factors, such as social position, can be responsible for the appearance of traits that could readily be mistaken for the product of endogenous characters.

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“…Decisions about the overall layout of the test setup were informed by the well-described properties of the fowl visual system. Hens recognize conspecifics using close binocular inspection of the other bird's head and neck region (Guhl and Ortman, 1953), but they are myopic in the frontal field and so unable to determine individual identity from distances greater than 30cm (Dawkins, 1995;Dawkins, 1996;Dawkins and Woodington, 1997). We hence positioned the end of the test cage 30 cm from the plasma display, a distance at which a hen should attempt social recognition by fixating on the screen.…”

Section: Experiments Ii: Female Response To Visual Tidbitting Displaymentioning

confidence: 99%

Silent tidbitting in male fowl,Gallus gallus: a referential visual signal with multiple functions

Smith

Evans

2009

Journal of Experimental Biology

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SUMMARYWith the notable exception of bee dances, there are no established examples of multimodal referential signals. The food calls of male fowl, Gallus gallus, are functionally referential and the acoustic component of a multimodal display. However, the specificity of the receiver's response to the visual component (tidbitting) has never been tested. Here we provide the first detailed analysis of tidbitting, and test the hypothesis that these characteristic movements are functionally referential. We conducted a playback experiment with five high-definition video stimuli: Silent tidbit, Matched-frequency motion in the opposite direction, Silent crows, Inactive male and Empty cage. Females searched for food more during Silent tidbitting than under any other condition, suggesting that this visual display specifically predicts the presence of food and hence has similar functional properties to food calls. Silent tidbitting was also singularly effective at evoking approach and close inspection, which may enhance signal memorability. These social responses suggest that the visual component of the display has the unique function of triggering assessment of signaler identity and quality as a potential mate. The acoustic and visual components are hence redundant as a food signal, but synergistic when additional functions are considered. These findings emphasize the perceptual complexity of multimodal displays and provide the first demonstration of multimodal referential signaling in a vertebrate.

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Distance and the presentation of visual stimuli to birds

Cited by 31 publications

References 18 publications

Thinking chickens: a review of cognition, emotion, and behavior in the domestic chicken

Thinking chickens: a review of cognition, emotion, and behavior in the domestic chicken

Behavioral Syndromes in Stable Social Groups: An Artifact of External Constraints?

Silent tidbitting in male fowl,Gallus gallus: a referential visual signal with multiple functions

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