Social transmission of courtship behavior and mating preferences in brown-headed cowbirds,Molothrus ater

Freeberg, Todd M.

doi:10.3758/bf03196013

Cited by 25 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…For example, song learning in birds is one of the most actively investigated areas in animal studies of cultural transmission. It is clear that the developmental environment of maturing birds impacts cultural transmission in the sense that in many species─cowbirds for example─males often learn their song type by copying that of adult males and females' preferences for song types are influenced by the preferences of adults in their population (Freeberg et al 1995;Freeberg 1996Freeberg , 1998Freeberg , 2004. Another example of this type of developmental effect is seen in rats who display a preference for milk that is flavored like the one that they have been exposed to during Mean mate-copying score Fig.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developmental environment, cultural transmission, and mate choice copying

Dugatkin

2007

Naturwissenschaften

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Using female mate choice copying as a rudimentary form of cultural transmission, this study provides evidence that social environment during development has a significant effect on the tendency to use culturally acquired information. Groups of newborn guppies (Poecilia reticulata) were raised for 35 days in 1 of 5 "developmental environments". Groups of 15 newborns were raised in pools with no adults (treatment 1), both adult male and female guppies (treatments 2 and 3), only adult females (treatment 4) or only adult males (treatment 5). Mature females raised in treatments 1 and 2, but not treatments 3, 4, and 5, copied the mate choice of others. Treatments 1 and 2 correspond to social structures that guppies experience during their development in the wild. Newborn guppies swim together in shoals (analogous to treatment 1). As they mature, juveniles join schools of adult males and females (analogous to treatments 2). At no time during the normal developmental process are juveniles found with males, but only unreceptive females (as was the case for long periods in treatment 3) or in the presence of adults of only one sex (analogous to treatments 4 and 5). As such, normal developmental environments prime guppies for cultural transmission, while unnatural environments fail to do so.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developmental environment, cultural transmission, and mate choice copying

Dugatkin

2007

Naturwissenschaften

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“…Laboratory tests of mate choice need to be functionally validated in more complex settings, in which animals have greater freedom to interact with conspecifics and choose or not choose mates. Compromises between ecologically limited conditions in the lab and uncontrolled conditions in the field do exist (see Freeberg, 2004). If patterns seen in the laboratory reveal truly important mechanisms of mate choice, they should be found in less rigidly controlled settings as well.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influences of social learning on mate-choice decisions

White

2004

Learning & Behavior

108

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“…Social learning is also important for mate choice in birds, primarily by vertical transmission through sexual imprinting early in life [22,23]. Most data are from studies in captivity, but there is some support from experiments in the wild [24 -26], where sexual imprinting as a juvenile lasts for life [27].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social learning in birds and its role in shaping a foraging niche

Slagsvold

Wiebe

2011

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

145

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We briefly review the literature on social learning in birds, concluding that strong evidence exists mainly for predator recognition, song, mate choice and foraging. The mechanism of local enhancement may be more important than imitation for birds learning to forage, but the former mechanism may be sufficient for faithful transmission depending on the ecological circumstances. To date, most insights have been gained from birds in captivity. We present a study of social learning of foraging in two passerine birds in the wild, where we cross-fostered eggs between nests of blue tits, Cyanistes caeruleus and great tits, Parus major. Early learning causes a shift in the foraging sites used by the tits in the direction of the foster species. The shift in foraging niches was consistent across seasons, as showed by an analysis of prey items, and the effect lasted for life. The fact that young birds learn from their foster parents, and use this experience later when subsequently feeding their own offspring, suggests that foraging behaviour can be culturally transmitted over generations in the wild. It may therefore have both ecological and evolutionary consequences, some of which are discussed.

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Social transmission of courtship behavior and mating preferences in brown-headed cowbirds,Molothrus ater

Cited by 25 publications

References 57 publications

Developmental environment, cultural transmission, and mate choice copying

Developmental environment, cultural transmission, and mate choice copying

Influences of social learning on mate-choice decisions

Social learning in birds and its role in shaping a foraging niche

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