Neophobia when feeding alone or in flocks in zebra finches, Taeniopygia guttata

Coleman, Scott L.; Mellgren, Roger L.

doi:10.1006/anbe.1994.1315

Cited by 95 publications

(73 citation statements)

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“…Being in a large group may lower the fear of novelty and thereby enhance individual performance (14,25), or larger groups may be more likely to contain bolder individuals whose explorative efforts may encourage more neophobic group mates (15,35). However, we found no difference in object neophobia between small and large groups, and problem-solving success was also unrelated to neophobia.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 67%

“…First, the presence of group mates may increase the individuals' motivation through social facilitation, e.g., because they experience lower levels of fear and/or higher levels of competition (14). This may encourage birds to visit the feeder sooner (35) and spend more time exploring (15), increasing the chance of solving the task. Although large groups of sparrows indeed made longer feeder bouts and more attempts to problem solve, these differences were possibly the conse- Attempts and success of small (2 birds) and large (6 birds) house sparrow groups during the first 30 Data are reported from the analyses of video recordings of 7 small and 7 large groups.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Larger groups are more successful in innovative problem solving in house sparrows

Liker

Bókony²

2009

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

173

139

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Group living offers well-known benefits to animals, such as better predator avoidance and increased foraging success. An important additional, but so far neglected, advantage is that groups may cope more effectively with unfamiliar situations through faster innovations of new solutions by some group members. We tested this hypothesis experimentally by presenting a new foraging task of opening a familiar feeder in an unfamiliar way to house sparrows in small and large groups (2 versus 6 birds). Group size had strong effects on problem solving: sparrows performed 4 times more and 11 times faster openings in large than in small groups, and all members of large groups profited by getting food sooner (7 times on average). Independently from group size, urban groups were more successful than rural groups. The disproportionately higher success in large groups was not a mere consequence of higher number of attempts, but was also related to a higher effectiveness of problem solving (3 times higher proportion of successful birds). The analyses of the birds' behavior suggest that the latter was not explained by either reduced investment in antipredator vigilance or reduced neophobia in large groups. Instead, larger groups may contain more diverse individuals with different skills and experiences, which may increase the chance of solving the task by some group members. Increased success in problem solving may promote group living in animals and may help them to adapt quickly to new situations in rapidly-changing environments.effectiveness ͉ foraging ͉ group size ͉ innovation ͉ urbanization

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 67%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Larger groups are more successful in innovative problem solving in house sparrows

Liker

Bókony²

2009

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

173

139

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Our results also demonstrate increased innovative problem-solving efficiency in larger groups, but they show such an effect in natural conditions, where individuals were free to join and leave a variable range of flock sizes and where predation risk was not reduced by conducting tests in an aviary. The group size effect reported in our system did not seem to be due to increased motivation and/or reduced neophobia at larger flock sizes (11,12,33,34). Latency to contact the devices after the experimenter left the site was not associated with morning bird count but decreased over consecutive days at a location, suggesting an habituation process that was independent of flock size.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 54%

“…Two of these relate to risk sharing: a reduction in object neophobia (11,12) and shared antipredatory vigilance (13,14). A third, nonexclusive possibility is that individuals intrinsically differ in their probability of success, and, as a consequence, larger groups are more likely to contain individuals with specific skills, individual tendencies, or past experience, making them competent at solving the current problem (9, 15).…”

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confidence: 99%

Larger groups of passerines are more efficient problem solvers in the wild

Morand‐Ferron

Quinn

2011

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

184

120

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Group living commonly helps organisms face challenging environmental conditions. Although a known phenomenon in humans, recent findings suggest that a benefit of group living in animals generally might be increased innovative problem-solving efficiency. This benefit has never been demonstrated in a natural context, however, and the mechanisms underlying improved efficiency are largely unknown. We examined the problem-solving performance of great and blue tits at automated devices and found that efficiency increased with flock size. This relationship held when restricting the analysis to naive individuals, demonstrating that larger groups increased innovation efficiency. In addition to this effect of naive flock size, the presence of at least one experienced bird increased the frequency of solving, and larger flocks were more likely to contain experienced birds. These findings provide empirical evidence for the "pool of competence" hypothesis in nonhuman animals. The probability of success also differed consistently between individuals, a necessary condition for the pool of competence hypothesis. Solvers had a higher probability of success when foraging with a larger number of companions and when using devices located near rather than further from protective tree cover, suggesting a role for reduced predation risk on problem-solving efficiency. In contrast to traditional group living theory, individuals joining larger flocks benefited from a higher seed intake, suggesting that group living facilitated exploitation of a novel food source through improved problem-solving efficiency. Together our results suggest that both ecological and social factors, through reduced predation risk and increased pool of competence, mediate innovation in natural populations.animal innovation | sociality | risk-sharing | personality | swarm intelligence

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“…[47,48]). Object neophobia is often defined as avoidance of the object resulting in decreased foraging behaviour towards a familiar food source.…”

Section: Methodological Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Patterns of predator neophobia: a meta-analytic review

Crane

Ferrari

2017

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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Neophobia, the fear of novel stimuli, plays a major role in animal ecology. Here, we review studies on predator neophobia and explore its underlying patterns within an ecological framework. Predator neophobia is typically assessed by observing behaviours in novel areas that bring potential risk from unknown predators, or by observing behaviours towards certain kinds of objects and odours that are novel. We conducted a literature review across taxa, surveying research on baseline and induced neophobia versus controls. We calculated effect sizes for the intensity of neophobic responses, and categorized data according to six factors (taxa, age class, background type, trophic position, test cue type and experimental treatment type). While accounting for each of the other factors, we found that baseline neophobia was stronger among birds and mammals, and towards novel areas, relative to other taxa and cue types. Baseline neophobia was lower for wild-caught animals and for those that were higher in trophic position, compared with those reared in captivity and from lower trophic levels. By contrast, induced neophobia was similar in intensity across taxa, background types and testing cue types, while again being lower among upper trophic-level members and among juvenile animals. Although induced neophobia occurred across all treatment types, brain lesions induced stronger neophobia than predation risk or social isolation. We discuss potential mechanisms underlying these results and highlight gaps in the literature.

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Neophobia when feeding alone or in flocks in zebra finches, Taeniopygia guttata

Cited by 95 publications

References 0 publications

Larger groups are more successful in innovative problem solving in house sparrows

Larger groups are more successful in innovative problem solving in house sparrows

Larger groups of passerines are more efficient problem solvers in the wild

Patterns of predator neophobia: a meta-analytic review

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