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‘String pulling’ in birds. 1. Individual differences in wild adult great tits

1956; Elsevier BV; Volume: 4; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/s0950-5601(56)80131-7

1878-1802

Margaret A. Vince,

Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies

Summaryo1.Twelve wild adult Great Tits were presented under aviary conditions with seeds suspended on the end of a 4-in. string. The seeds could be obtained only when the bird had pulled up the string.2.The birds approached the seeds-on-string situation very little at first; then the response was built up slowly and later it tended to die away again if not reinforced by feeding.3.Only one bird succeeded in pulling up the 4-in, string and obtaining the bait. Four were trained in string pulling by the method of giving food on the end of very short strings which were subsequently lengthened.4.Changes introduced into the experimental situation were found to inhibit the bird's response to the seeds or string, and could at least temporarily abolish an established string pulling habit.5.It is suggested that success in this situation may depend in the Great Tit simply on the intensity of the bird's response to the seeds, the intensity varying with external factors. Twelve wild adult Great Tits were presented under aviary conditions with seeds suspended on the end of a 4-in. string. The seeds could be obtained only when the bird had pulled up the string. The birds approached the seeds-on-string situation very little at first; then the response was built up slowly and later it tended to die away again if not reinforced by feeding. Only one bird succeeded in pulling up the 4-in, string and obtaining the bait. Four were trained in string pulling by the method of giving food on the end of very short strings which were subsequently lengthened. Changes introduced into the experimental situation were found to inhibit the bird's response to the seeds or string, and could at least temporarily abolish an established string pulling habit. It is suggested that success in this situation may depend in the Great Tit simply on the intensity of the bird's response to the seeds, the intensity varying with external factors.