Innovative individuals are not always the best demonstrators: feeding innovation and social transmission in Serinus canaria.

PloS One
Nicole CadieuJean-Claude Cadieu

Abstract

Feeding innovation occurs when individuals choose a novel, unknown type of food and/or acquire new feeding skills. Here we studied feeding innovation and social transmission of the new feeding habit in canaries. Adult canaries eat a wide variety of seeds but avoid larger ones such as those of sunflowers. We determined whether adults of both sexes are equally prone to innovate when confronted with sunflower seeds and whether free-interactions facilitate transmission of the new feeding habit in a sex-dependent manner. First we determined which sex was more innovative, i.e., was more successful at husking and eating the novel seeds. Males were clearly more innovative than females. Due to this, experienced males served as model for either male or female observers in three different conditions (free interaction with a demonstrator, visual interaction with a demonstrator placed behind a transparent wall and access to seeds in the presence of a non-demonstrating bird). During free interactions, the new feeding habit was only transmitted to females. In contrast, transmission of seed handling to male observers only occurred if demonstrator and observer were separated by the transparent wall. Indeed, aggressive behaviors between males pr...Continue Reading

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Citations

Mar 2, 2011·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Tore Slagsvold, Karen L Wiebe
May 11, 2013·Primates; Journal of Primatology·Anna Viktoria Schnoell, Claudia Fichtel
Aug 20, 2016·Frontiers in Psychology·Julie DuboscqCédric Sueur

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