Sex differences in learning ability in a common songbird, the great tit—females are better observational learners than males

Brodin, Anders; Urhan, A. Utku

doi:10.1007/s00265-014-1836-2

Cited by 27 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 22 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The American black-capped chickadee Poecile atricapillus is a close American relative to the marsh tit with a similar storing behaviour (Brodin 2005). In an experiment that was very similar to the ones in which Brodin and Urhan (2014, 2015) showed this ability in great tits, chickadees did not show any evidence of this (Baker et al 1988). Neither did Hitchcock and Sherry (1995) detect such an effect in black-capped chickadees in a slightly different experiment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 76%

“…If we assume that the effect is as strong in marsh tits as it was in great tits (Brodin and Urhan 2014), we would have had a power of 0.99 for the test between the 1-h interval sessions and the control sessions and 0.75 for the 24-h sessions vs the control sessions (calculated on the data in Brodin and Urhan 2015). As the tendencies in Fig.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As in previous studies (Brodin and Urhan 2014, 2015), we used two measures to evaluate the birds’ performance. One was the proportion of correct retrieval attempts after the first 10 attempts, and the second was the number of erroneous attempts before the first correct one.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Great tits are considered to be innovative foragers (Lefebvre and Boogert 2010; Cole et al 2011; Cauchard et al 2013; Brodin and Urhan 2015). For example, they have been recorded to use conifer needles to extract food from bark crevices (Gosler and Clement 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Evidence against observational spatial memory for cache locations of conspecifics in marsh tits Poecile palustris

Urhan

Emilsson

Brodin

2017

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Many species in the family Paridae, such as marsh tits Poecile palustris, are large-scale scatter hoarders of food that make cryptic caches and disperse these in large year-round territories. The perhaps most well-known species in the family, the great tit Parus major, does not store food itself but is skilled in stealing caches from the other species. We have previously demonstrated that great tits are able to memorise positions of caches they have observed marsh tits make and later return and steal the food. As great tits are explorative in nature and unusually good learners, it is possible that such “memorisation of caches from a distance” is a unique ability of theirs. The other possibility is that this ability is general in the parid family. Here, we tested marsh tits in the same experimental set-up as where we previously have tested great tits. We allowed caged marsh tits to observe a caching conspecific in a specially designed indoor arena. After a retention interval of 1 or 24 h, we allowed the observer to enter the arena and search for the caches. The marsh tits showed no evidence of such observational memorization ability, and we believe that such ability is more useful for a non-hoarding species. Why should a marsh tit that memorises hundreds of their own caches in the field bother with the difficult task of memorising other individuals’ caches? We argue that the close-up memorisation procedure that marsh tits use at their own caches may be a different type of observational learning than memorisation of caches made by others. For example, the latter must be done from a distance and hence may require the ability to adopt an allocentric perspective, i.e. the ability to visualise the cache from the hoarder’s perspective.Significance statementMembers of the Paridae family are known to possess foraging techniques that are cognitively advanced. Previously, we have demonstrated that a non-hoarding parid species, the great tit P. major, is able to memorise positions of caches that they have observed marsh tits P. palustris make. However, it is unknown whether this cognitively advanced foraging strategy is unique to great tits or if it occurs also in other parids. Here, we demonstrated that “pilfering by observational memorization strategy” is not a general strategy in parids. We believe that such ability is important for a non-hoarding species such as the great tit and, most likely, birds owning many caches do not need this foraging strategy.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 76%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Evidence against observational spatial memory for cache locations of conspecifics in marsh tits Poecile palustris

Urhan

Emilsson

Brodin

2017

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Despite mammals displaying ubiquitous spatial memory sexual dimorphisms, evidenced through differences in hippocampus volumes, this relationship remains a bit more equivocal in other taxa. In great tits, brown-headed cowbirds (Molothrus ater), and shiny cowbirds (Molothrus bonariensis), females have enhanced spatial memory compared to male conspecifics, and this is reflected in larger hippocampus volumes in females (Brodin and Urhan, 2015;Guigueno et al, 2014;Reboreda et al, 1996). However, in rufous hummingbirds (Selasphorus rufus) and other species of cowbirds, no sexual dimorphism in hippocampus volume exists (Reboreda et al, 1996 andHurly, 1995).…”

Section: Spatial Ecology and Neuroplasticitymentioning

confidence: 92%

Effects of testosterone on the spatial ecology, coloration, and brain regions in western fence lizards, Sceloporus occidentalis

Wilson¹

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Sex Differences

Fleury¹

2020

Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Sex differences in learning ability in a common songbird, the great tit—females are better observational learners than males

Cited by 27 publications

References 22 publications

Evidence against observational spatial memory for cache locations of conspecifics in marsh tits Poecile palustris

Evidence against observational spatial memory for cache locations of conspecifics in marsh tits Poecile palustris

Effects of testosterone on the spatial ecology, coloration, and brain regions in western fence lizards, Sceloporus occidentalis

Sex Differences

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About