Foraging zebra finches ( Taeniopygia guttata ) are public information users rather than conformists

Social learning enables adaptive information acquisition provided that it is not random but selective. To understand species typical decision-making and to trace the evolutionary origins of social learning, the heuristics social learners use need to be identified. Here, we experimentally tested the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biology letters (2005) 2021-06, Vol.17 (6), p.20200767-20200767
Main Authors: van Leeuwen, Edwin J. C., Morgan, Thomas J. H., Riebel, Katharina
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal Behaviour
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Summary:Social learning enables adaptive information acquisition provided that it is not random but selective. To understand species typical decision-making and to trace the evolutionary origins of social learning, the heuristics social learners use need to be identified. Here, we experimentally tested the nature of majority influence in the zebra finch. Subjects simultaneously observed two demonstrator groups differing in relative and absolute numbers (ratios 1 : 2/2 : 4/3 : 3/1 : 5) foraging from two novel food sources (black and white feeders). We find that demonstrator groups influenced observers' feeder choices (social learning), but that zebra finches did not copy the majority of individuals. Instead, observers were influenced by the foraging activity (pecks) of the demonstrators and in an anti-conformist fashion. These results indicate that zebra finches are not conformist, but are public information users.
ISSN:1744-957X
1744-9561
1744-957X
DOI:10.1098/rsbl.2020.0767