Energy state affects exploratory behavior of tree sparrows in a group context under differential food-patch distributions

Lee, Ya Fu; Kuo, Yen Min; Chu, Wen Chen

doi:10.1186/s12983-016-0180-y

Cited by 9 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 73 publications

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“…This result is in line with previous studies performed in fish where familiarity was associated with increased time spent exploring a novel object, latency to emerge from a refuge and faster habituation to a novel environment [ 30 , 73 , 74 ]. The latency to visit the ground is particularly important, as birds usually perceive the soil as a higher-risk area compared to perches that were higher off the ground [ 20 , 60 ], and in our set-up the birds rarely visited the ground for reasons different than going to a water source [BT unpublished observation]. For these reasons we argue that a shorter latency to venture on the ground provides a strong indication of reduced perceived predation risk.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

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House sparrows’ (Passer domesticus) behaviour in a novel environment is modulated by social context and familiarity in a sex-specific manner

et al. 2018

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BackgroundExploratory behaviour is one of the best-investigated behavioural traits. However, little is known about how differences in familiarity, i.e. in the knowledge and previous experience with a companion can influence the exploration of a novel environment. However, to our knowledge, such a critical feature of the social environment has never been the target of a study relating it to exploratory behaviour in birds. Here we examined if familiarity with a conspecific could affect behavioural responses of individuals confronted with a novel environment. We recorded the latency to land on the ground, latency to feed, time spent feeding and number of sectors visited of 48 female and 48 male house sparrows (Passer domesticus) in an indoor aviary in three contexts: alone (individual context), with an unfamiliar and with a familiar same-sex companion.ResultsHouse sparrows landed sooner on the ground when in the familiar context than when in the individual context. Birds in unfamiliar pairs followed each other less than familiar birds, but this difference diminished with time spent exploring. Moreover, males and females differed in their behavioural responses in the unfamiliar context. Females with a familiar companion landed sooner than when they were paired with an unfamiliar conspecific, whereas only the presence of a companion but not familiarity reduced males latency to land on the ground. Finally, when considering the unfamiliar context males had shorter latencies to forage and thus spent more time eating than females.ConclusionsThe presence or absence of a companion and its familiarity with the focal individual influenced differently the behavioural responses of male and female house sparrows in a novel environment. As house sparrows are strongly sociable, the influence of the social environment is likely to be of paramount importance to understand the selective pressures acting on them, particularly in recently colonized areas with ephemeral food sources. Our results shed light on the complex influence that the social environment has on the behavioural responses of a cosmopolitan bird.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12983-018-0267-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Two hours prior to each test the food bowl was removed from the temporary aviaries of the individual(s) scheduled for the test, in order to normalize the foraging motivation [ 60 ]. After the birds undergoing testing were capture and removed from the temporary housing aviary, food was returned to the other individuals.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

House sparrows’ (Passer domesticus) behaviour in a novel environment is modulated by social context and familiarity in a sex-specific manner

et al. 2018

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“…Among the three contexts, the TB context was most confined in space of the three settings, but nevertheless resembled the real-life situation in which the bats climb along rugged wall surfaces while inside their roost in a karst reef cave. The HB setting was less confined than the TB setting, and the center arena of the box served as a novel open area that potentially exposed the bats to a riskier situation [72]. In comparison, the FT context represented an even more open space than the TB or HB setting to the bats; however, it also Flying significantly increases the ability of bats to avoid and evade potential risks [73]; thus, being able to fly can reduce their vulnerability as a result.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Context-specific variation and repeatability in behavioral traits of bent-wing bats

et al. 2023

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Animals may show consistent among-individual behavioral differences over time and in different contexts, and these tendencies may be correlated to one another and emerge as behavioral syndromes. The cross-context variation in these behavioral tendencies, however, is rarely explored with animals in contexts associated with different locomotion modes. This study assessed the variation and repeatability in behavioral traits of bent-wing bats Miniopterus fuliginosus in southern Taiwan, and the effects of contextual settings associated with locomotion mode. The bats were sampled in the dry winter season, and their behaviors were measured in hole-board box (HB) and tunnel box (TB) tests, both suited for quadrupedal movements of the bats, and flight-tent (FT) tests that allowed for flying behaviors. The bats in the FT tests showed more interindividual and between-trial behavioral variation than those in the HB and TB tests. Nearly all of the behaviors in the TB and FT tests, but only half of those in the HB tests, showed medium to high repeatability. These repeatable behaviors were grouped into distinct behavioral traits of boldness, activity, and exploration, which were correlated to one another across contexts. In addition, we observed a consistently higher correlation between behavioral categories across the HB and TB contexts than between either of these contexts and the FT context. The results indicate consistent among-individual behavioral differences across time and contexts in wildly caught bent-wing bats. The findings of behavioral repeatability and cross-context correlations also indicate context-dependent variation and suggest that test devices which allow for flight behaviors, such as flight tents or cages, may provide a more suitable setting for measuring the behaviors and animal personalities of bats, particularly for those species that display less or little quadrupedal movements.

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“…However, if behavior trait stabilities are heritable, they could explain why D. melanogaster strains derived from the same wild population display dramatic differences in their behavior responses to new odor environments [53][54][55] . They may also help us understand how and why starved animals show different degrees of search and exploratory behavior compared to non-starved animals [56][57][58] .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stability of olfactory behavior syndromes in the Drosophila larva

Odell

Zito

Clark

et al. 2023

Sci Rep

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Individuals of many animal populations exhibit idiosyncratic behaviors. One measure of idiosyncratic behavior is a behavior syndrome, defined as the stability of one or more behavior traits in an individual across different situations. While behavior syndromes have been described in various animal systems, their properties and the circuit mechanisms that generate them are poorly understood. We thus have an incomplete understanding of how circuit properties influence animal behavior. Here, we characterize olfactory behavior syndromes in the Drosophila larva. We show that larvae exhibit idiosyncrasies in their olfactory behavior over short time scales. They are influenced by the larva’s satiety state and odor environment. Additionally, we identified a group of antennal lobe local neurons that influence the larva’s idiosyncratic behavior. These findings reveal previously unsuspected influences on idiosyncratic behavior. They further affirm the idea that idiosyncrasies are not simply statistical phenomena but manifestations of neural mechanisms. In light of these findings, we discuss more broadly the importance of idiosyncrasies to animal survival and how they might be studied.

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Energy state affects exploratory behavior of tree sparrows in a group context under differential food-patch distributions

Cited by 9 publications

References 73 publications

House sparrows’ (Passer domesticus) behaviour in a novel environment is modulated by social context and familiarity in a sex-specific manner

House sparrows’ (Passer domesticus) behaviour in a novel environment is modulated by social context and familiarity in a sex-specific manner

Context-specific variation and repeatability in behavioral traits of bent-wing bats

Stability of olfactory behavior syndromes in the Drosophila larva

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