Social Learning of Migratory Performance

Successful bird migration can depend on individual learning, social learning, and innate navigation programs. Using 8 years of data on migrating whooping cranes, we were able to partition genetic and socially learned aspects of migration. Specifically, we analyzed data from a reintroduced population...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2013-08, Vol.341 (6149), p.999-1002
Main Authors: Mueller, Thomas, O'Hara, Robert B., Converse, Sarah J., Urbanek, Richard P., Fagan, William F.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age Factors
Aircraft components
Animal cognition
Animal ethology
Animal Migration
Animal migration behavior
Animal reproduction
Animals
Aves
Aviculture
Biological and medical sciences
Birds
Breeding of animals
Canyons
Cranes
Deviation
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Genetic relationships
Genetics
Ice
Learning
Male
Migration
Navigation
Observational learning
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Seasonal migration
Seasons
Sex Factors
Social Behavior
Socialization
Straight lines
Vertebrata
Wildlife refuges
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Summary:Successful bird migration can depend on individual learning, social learning, and innate navigation programs. Using 8 years of data on migrating whooping cranes, we were able to partition genetic and socially learned aspects of migration. Specifically, we analyzed data from a reintroduced population wherein all birds were captive bred and artificially trained by ultralight aircraft on their first lifetime migration. For subsequent migrations, in which birds fly individually or in groups but without ultralight escort, we found evidence of long-term social learning, but no effect of genetic relatedness on migratory performance. Social learning from older birds reduced deviations from a straight-line path, with 7 years of experience yielding a 38% improvement in migratory accuracy.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.1237139