Exploratory behavior is linked to stress physiology and social network centrality in free-living house finches (Haemorhous mexicanus)

Abstract

Animal personality has been linked to individual variation in both stress physiology and social behaviors, but few studies have simultaneously examined covariation between personality traits, stress hormone levels, and behaviors in free-living animals. We investigated relationships between exploratory behavior (one aspect of animal personality), stress physiology, and social and foraging behaviors in wild house finches (Haemorhous mexicanus). We conducted novel environment assays after collecting samples of baseline and stress-induced plasma corticosterone concentrations from a subset of house finches. We then fitted individuals with Passive Integrated Transponder tags and monitored feeder use and social interactions at radio-frequency identification equipped bird feeders. First, we found that individuals with higher baseline corticosterone concentrations exhibit more exploratory behaviors in a novel environment. Second, more exploratory individuals interacted with more unique conspecifics in the wild, though this result was stronger for female than for male house finches. Third, individuals that were quick to begin exploring interacted more frequently with conspecifics than slow-exploring individuals. Finally, exploratory behaviors were unrelated to foraging behaviors, including the amount of time spent on bird feeders, a behavior previously shown to be predictive of acquiring a bacterial disease that causes annual epidemics in house finches. Overall, our results indicate that individual differences in exploratory behavior are linked to variation in both stress physiology and social network traits in free-living house finches. Such covariation has important implications for house finch ecology, as both traits can contribute to fitness in the wild.

Repeatable differences in exploratory behaviour predict tick infestation probability in wild great tits

“…This pattern has previously been observed in Eastern grey squirrels ( Sciurus carolinensis ) (Santicchia et al 2019). Exploratory behaviour is known to predict foraging style (Verbeek et al 1994; Aplin et al 2014) but to which extent is not fully understood (Moyers et al 2018). Ixodes ricinus (the most common tick infesting vertebrates in Europe (Hillyard 1996)) quests for hosts vertically up to 1.5m but with decreasing abundance with increasing distance from the ground (Mejlon and Jaenson 1997).…”

Hierarchies and Dominance Behaviors in European Pond Turtle (Emys orbicularis galloitalica) Hatchlings in a Controlled Environment

“…The Elo-rating is a rating-based method originally proposed for ranking chess players and subsequently applied to many animal behavioral studies (e.g., [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 ]). It is calculated as an individual score that updates sequentially after every dyadic interaction involving the individual themselves.…”

Developmental conditions promote individual differentiation of endocrine axes and behavior in a tropical pinniped

“…In one example, a study of juvenile cavies (Cavia aperea) found basal metabolic rates seemed to underlie an animal's propensity to explore habitats and likely facilitated finding scarce resources (Guenther et al 2014). Considering other motivations, it was shown in highly social, wild house finches (Haemorhous mexicanus) that reactive individuals were more flexible and 'explorative' in their behavior because they had the necessary energy to seek out intraspecific interactions in unfamiliar habitats (Moyers et al 2018), although these studies used glucocorticoids to infer energetic capabilities. Similarly, here, thyroid and body size differences may underlie behavioral and social motivations for GSL pups to locomote more and interact with conspecifics in greater portions of their habitat.…”