Ontogenetic shifts from social to experiential learning drive avian migration timing

Abstract

Migrating animals may benefit from social or experiential learning, yet whether and how these learning processes interact or change over time to produce observed migration patterns remains unexplored. Using 16 years of satellite-tracking data from 105 reintroduced whooping cranes, we reveal an interplay between social and experiential learning in migration timing. Both processes dramatically improved individuals’ abilities to dynamically adjust their timing to track environmental conditions along the migration path. However, results revealed an ontogenetic shift in the dominant learning process, whereby subadult birds relied on social information, while mature birds primarily relied on experiential information. These results indicate that the adjustment of migration phenology in response to the environment is a learned skill that depends on both social context and individual age. Assessing how animals successfully learn to time migrations as environmental conditions change is critical for understanding intraspecific differences in migration patterns and for anticipating responses to global change.

Viewing animal migration through a social lens

“…As a result, the time available to explore during migration can be reduced as migrants move into the reproductive phase of their life, creating selective pressure for migrants to quickly learn beneficial behaviors early in life through social information use and social learning. Alternatively, social information may not be favored when personal information already exists (e.g., an experienced individual [27]) or when information is easily obtained individually (e.g., when resources are predictable or exploration is not costly).…”

“…Partnerships between managers and researchers continue to advance science, while also improving conservation and management of migratory populations. In fact, some of the best examples of social learning in migratory species arose from research on reintroduced whooping cranes [16,27,91] and bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) [32], which were facilitated by strong collaborations between researchers and managers. Another promising area for collaboration between researchers and managers involves the development and improvement of methods to monitor migratory populations.…”

Time constraints may pace the ontogeny of movement behaviour

“…This process can be innate (i.e. genetically determined), or acquired through social or individual learning [ 4 , 5 ]. In addition, environmental constraints are expected to moderate the timing and pace of performance enhancement in juvenile or naive animals [ 6 ].…”

“…To capture the full ontogeny of a behaviour we need to repeatedly assess behaviour over discrete time steps, starting with its first occurrence. Movement data can provide a unique opportunity to record spatial behaviours continuously over time from the first steps, through immaturity into adulthood [ 4 , 13 , 14 ]. Thereby, enhancement in performance over time can be approximated using simple mathematical functions.…”

Ornithology from the FlatlandsSocially Migrating Cuckoos? on Genes Being Just One of Many Resources Shaping the Individual Development of Migration

“…Recognizing that some migratory birds such as cranes (Gruidae) travel in family groups and thus learn the routes from experienced adults (Mueller et al 2013, Abrahms et al 2021), Common Cuckoos have become the primary example of the opposite, a species migrating under strict genetic instruction (Vega et al 2106, Thorup et al 2020). In that line of thinking, an interesting displacement study with adult Common Cuckoos was actually based on the proposition that “migrating birds follow innate species-specific migration programs capable of guiding them along complex spatial-temporal routes” (Willemoes et al 2015).…”