Inhibitory control, exploration behaviour and manipulated ecological context are associated with foraging flexibility in the great tit

Abstract

1. Organisms are constantly under selection to respond effectively to diverse, sometimes rapid, changes in their environment, but not all individuals are equally plastic in their behaviour. Although cognitive processes and personality are expected to influence individual behavioural plasticity, the effects reported are highly inconsistent, which we hypothesise is because ecological context is usually not considered.2. We explored how one type of behavioural plasticity, foraging flexibility, was associated with inhibitory control (assayed using a detour-reaching task) and exploration behaviour in a novel environment (a trait closely linked to the fast-slow personality axis). We investigated how these effects varied across two experimentally manipulated ecological contexts-food value and predation risk.3. In the first phase of the experiment, we trained great tits Parus major to retrieve high value (preferred) food that was hidden in sand so that this became the familiar food source. In the second phase, we offered them the same familiar hidden food at the same time as a new alternative option that was visible on the surface, which was either high or low value, and under either high or low perceived predation risk. Foraging flexibility was defined as the proportion of choices made during 4-min trials that were for the new alternative food source. 4. Our assays captured consistent differences among individuals in foraging flexibility. Inhibitory control was associated with foraging flexibility-birds with high inhibitory control were more flexible when the alternative food was of high value, suggesting they inhibited the urge to select the familiar food and instead selected the new food option. Exploration behaviour also predicted flexibility-fast explorers were more flexible, supporting the information-gathering hypothesis. This | 321

Variation in inhibitory control does not influence social rank, foraging efficiency, or risk taking, in red junglefowl females

“…Nevertheless, while we did not find inhibitory control to affect foraging, in terms of how many patches of food a subject processed in a given time, inhibitory control still has the potential to affect other aspects of foraging. For example, a recent study in great tits, Parus major, found that birds with better inhibitory control were more able to switch to an alternative food source when this had high value (Coomes et al 2021). In terms of risk taking, links to inhibitory control are still unclear with both positive (e.g., Gomes et al 2020;Lucon-Xiccati et al 2020b) and negative (e.g., Freeman and Muraven 2010;Gabriel et al 2019) and now a lack of connections being found (this study).…”

Laboratory measures of boldness correlate with ecological niche in threespine stickleback

“…The current results, therefore, relate more to foraging style more than average boldness. These results highlight that the correlation between trophic niche and behavior can be nuanced but also the need to consider not only the average behavior but also plasticity when relating animal personality to foraging (Coomes et al, 2021).…”

Laboratory measures of boldness correlate to ecological niche in threespine stickleback

“…4 and may indicate that the pattern is largely driven by a few individuals. These results highlight that the correlation of trophic niche and behavior can be nuanced but also the need to consider not only the average behavior but also plasticity when relating animal personality to foraging (Coomes et al, 2021).…”