Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Social transmission of food handling in the context of triadic interactions between adults and young canaries (Serinus canaria)

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We studied the factors that enhance food recognition and consumption in young canaries when confronted with adults. In contrast to previous studies on canaries, in which social transmission of food habits was studied in the context of dyadic interactions (one juvenile–one adult), we proposed a more realistic framework in which young canaries were studied in the context of triadic interactions, free or not, with adults of both sexes. We found that during free interactions, the young bird only eats with a familiar male and that this association enhances the social transmission of seed handling. When the juvenile was separated from the adults by a transparent partition, it only learned to husk seed if it was present at the feeder at the same time as a familiar adult acting as a demonstrator. The presence of adults that are familiar but do not act as demonstrators does not facilitate social transmission of handling. However, the presence of a familiar, demonstrating female had also no effect on this transmission. Coordination of the actions of the experienced bird and of the naive subject is required for social transmission to occur. Action coordination does not depend solely on the level of familiarity between partners but also on the role played by the demonstrator (here, the adult male) that looks after the juvenile during its transition towards independence.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Beauchamp G, Kacelnik A (1991) Effects of the knowledge of partners on learning rates in Zebra finches (Teaniopygia guttata). Anim Behav 41:247–253

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Benskin CMH, Mann NI, Lachlan RF, Slater PJB (2002) Social learning directs feeding preferences in the Zebra finch, (Taeniopygia guttata). Anim Behav 64:823–828

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Biro D, Inoue-Nakamura N, Tonooka R, Yamakoshi G, Sousa C, Matsuzawa T (2003) Cultural innovation and transmission of tool use in wild chimpanzees: evidence from field experiments. Anim. Cogn 6:213–223

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cadieu JC, Cadieu N (1996) Influence of some interactions between fledglings and adults on the food choice in young canaries (Serinus canarius). J Ethol 14:99–109

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cadieu N, Cadieu JC (1998) Is food recognition in an unfamiliar environment a long-term effect of stimulus or local enhancement? A study in the juvenile canary. Behav Process 43:183–192

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cadieu N, Cadieu JC (2002) Is use of a novel food source by young canaries (Serinus canarius) influenced by the sex and familiarity of the adult demonstrator. Behaviour 139:825–846

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cadieu N, Cadieu JC (2004) The influence of free interactions and partner familiarity on social transmission in the young canary. Anim Behav 67:1051–1057

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cadieu JC, Cadieu N, Lauga J (1995a) Local enhancement and seed choice in the juvenile canary (Serinus canarius). Anim Behav 50:793–800

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cadieu JC, Cadieu N, Médioni J (1995b) Parental influence on food familiarisation in the fledgling canary (Serinus canarius) and its long-term effect. Ethol Ecol Evol 7:265–270

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Caldwell CA, Witten A (2003) Scrounging facilitates social learning in common marmosets, (Callithrix jacchus). Anim Behav 65:1085–1092

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Caro TM, Hauser MD (1992) Is there teaching in nonhuman animals? Q Rev Biol 67:151–174

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chesler P (1969) Maternal influence in learning by observation in kittens. Science 166:901–903

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Clayton DA (1978) Socially facilitated behavior. Q Rev Biol 53:373–391

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coussi-Korbel S, Fragaszy DM (1995) On the relation between social dynamics and social learning. Anim Behav 50:1441–1453

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davies NB (1976) Parental care and the transition to independent feeding in the young spotted flycatcher (Musicapa striata). Behaviour 59:280–295

    Google Scholar 

  • Diamond J (1987) Learned specializations of birds. Nature 330:16–17

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Forkman B (1991) Social facilitation is shown by gerbils when presented with novel but not with familiar food. Anim Behav 42:860–861

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Galef BG Jr (1996) The adaptive value of social learning: a reply to Laland. Anim Behav 52:641–644

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Giraldeau LA, Lefebvre L (1987) Scrounging prevents cultural transmission of food-finding behaviour in pigeons. Anim Behav 35:387–394

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goodall J (1973) Cultural elements in a chimpanzee community. In: Menzel E (ed) Precultural primate behaviour. Karger, Basel, pp 144–184

    Google Scholar 

  • Hatch KK, Lefebvre L (1997) Does father know best? Social learning from kin and non-kin juvenile ringdoves. Behav Process 41:1–10

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Katz M, Lachlan RF (2003) Social learning of food types in Zebra finches (Taenopygia guttata) is directed by demonstrator’s sex and feeding activity. Anim Cogn 6:11–16

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Meinertzhagen R (1954) The education of young ospreys. Ibis 96:153–155

    Google Scholar 

  • Midford PE, Hailman JP, Woolfenden GE (2000) Social learning of a novel foraging patch in families of free-living Florida scrub-jays. Anim Behav 59:1199–1207

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Murton RK (1971) The significance of a specific search image in the feeding behaviour of the wood-pigeon. Behaviour 40:10–42

    Google Scholar 

  • Nicol CJ, Pope SJ (1996) The maternal feeding display of domestic hens is sensitive to perceived chick error. Anim Behav 52:767–774

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Norton-Griffiths M (1966) Some ecological aspects of the feeding behaviour of the oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus) on the edible mussel (Mytilus edulis). Ibis 109:412–423

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz D (1968) Méthodes statistiques à l’usage des médecins et des biologistes. Flammarion, Paris

    Google Scholar 

  • Sherry DF (1977) Parental food-calling and the role of the young in the Burmese red junglefowl (Gallus gallus spadiceus). Anim Behav 25:594–601

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Siegel S, Castellan NJ (1988) Nonparametric statistics for the behavioral sciences, 2nd edn. McGraw-Hill, Toronto

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith VA, King AP, West MJ (2002) The context of social learning: association patterns in a captive flock of brown-headed cowbirds. Anim Behav 63:23–35

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stamps J, Clark A, Kus B, Arrowood P (1990) Social relationships of fledgling budgerigars, (Melopsitticus undulatus). Anim Behav 40:668–700

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sutherland WJ (1998) The importance of behavioural studies in conservation biology. Anim Behav 56:801–809

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Terkel J (1996) Cultural transmission of feeding behavior in the black rat (Rattus rattus). In: Heyes CM, Galef BG Jr (eds) Social learning in animals: the roots of culture. Academic, New York, pp 17–47

    Google Scholar 

  • Trivers RL (1974) Parent-offspring conflict. Amer Zool 12:249–264

    Google Scholar 

  • Wauters AM, Richard-Yris MA, Pierre JS, Lunel C, Richard JP (1999) Influence of chicks and food quality on food calling in broody domestic hens. Behaviour 136:919–933

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to M. Giurfa for his helpful comments on the manuscript. We thank G. Latil for technical assistance. All the experimental procedures comply with French laws governing experiments on animals. Experiments on canaries were carried out in our laboratory under license from the French Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. Support of CNRS and the University Paul Sabatier is acknowledged.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition Animale, CNRS-Université Paul Sabatier Toulouse III-UMR 5169, 118 Route de Narbonne, 31062, Toulouse Cedex 4, France

    N. Cadieu & J. C. Cadieu

  2. Université Paul Sabatier, 118 route de Narbonne, 31062, Toulouse cedex 4, France

    P. Winterton

Authors
  1. N. Cadieu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. P. Winterton
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. J. C. Cadieu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to N. Cadieu.

Additional information

Communicated by M. Elgar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Cadieu, N., Winterton, P. & Cadieu, J.C. Social transmission of food handling in the context of triadic interactions between adults and young canaries (Serinus canaria). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 62, 795–804 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-007-0505-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-007-0505-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation