Personality traits and behavioural profiles in the domestic canary are affected by sex and photoperiod

Abstract

Personality traits and behavioural profiles are generally assumed to be stable in adulthood. Yet, it has been hypothesised that animals should cope with cyclical fluctuations by adjusting both single behaviours and suites of behaviour. Photoperiod is well known to induce hormonal and physiological changes, and these changes can in turn affect personality traits and behavioural profiles. This study is the first to explicitly investigate the influence of photoperiod on both behavioural profiles and personality traits. Six potential personality traits (within‐flock activity, ability to escape, response to threat, isolation calling, boldness and neophobia) and dominance were measured four times in 96 domestic canaries Serinus canaria (48 males and 48 females): twice during a long photoperiod (Long Days) and 6 months later twice during a short photoperiod (Short Days). Without regard to sex and photoperiod, most traits were highly repeatable, and bolder canaries were more dominant, less sensitive to an external threat and to isolation and less neophobic. In addition, the more active individuals within a flock were the more difficult to catch. Yet, both sex and photoperiod affected personality traits and behavioural profiles. Personality traits remained repeatable within each photoperiod though we observed behavioural plasticity and sex differences for response to threat, neophobia and within‐flock activity. Concerning behavioural profiles, the negative relationship between boldness and neophobia remained homogenous in both sexes during Short Days as well as during Long Days. Then, the more active individuals within a flock were the more difficult to catch in Short Days but not in Long Days. Finally, the other correlations not only varied with photoperiod but also with sex. Our study highlights the importance of photoperiod and sex in the expression of personality traits and behavioural profiles, and of the need to measure them across the whole photoperiodic cycle.

Seasonal time constraints shape life history, physiology and behaviour independently, and decouple a behavioural syndrome in a damselfly

“…Although trait repeatability is often suggested to respond to environmental factors experienced during development (Careau et al 2014, Killen et al 2016, Royauté and Dochtermann 2017, but see DiRienzo and Montiglio 2016), repeatability estimates reported here did not seem to be influenced by the seasonal time constraints. Among the very few studies manipulating photoperiods, results indicate little (cavy: Finkemeier et al 2016) or no (canary: Amy et al 2017) evidence for an effect of seasonal time constraints on trait repeatability.…”

Experimental evidence for a role of dopamine on avian personality traits

“…Individual differences in these assays are consistent over extended periods of time (Funghi et al, 2015;Gomes et al, 2020), and they also predict individual differences in exploration (Carvalho et al, 2013). We also tested waxbills with a general activity assay after food deprivation, in an environment with a food source and a novel object, which is also often used as a personality assay in other species (Amy et al, 2017;Boogert et al, 2006;Mettke-Hofmann, 2012;Réale et al, 2007), as the DAergic system is involved in the reward and motivational aspects of feeding (Bello and Hajnal, 2010). Because the DAergic system involves several different receptors, and thus other genes in addition to DRD4, our neuropharmacological approach allowed a comprehensive test of whether DA is involved in determining behaviour that is related to avian personality.…”

Males have more aggressive and less sociable personalities than females in semi-captive Asian elephants

“…Personality studies sometimes focus only on male or female individuals of a species, even though behaviour and life-history can differ substantially between the sexes, leading to different selection pressures on male and female personality 5,6 . However, researchers have recently been paying more attention to sex-specific differences in personality, advocating that sex differences should receive even more attention 7–9 , since ignoring them may potentially lead to flawed conclusions 8 . Males and females can differ consistently in their behaviour or personality since they face different selection pressures.…”