Wild North Island Robins (Petroica longipes) respond to Prey Animacy
North Island robins of New Zealand are a food hoarding species, which is unique in that they almost exclusively cache highly perishable hunted insects for later retrieval. In order to do so, they either kill and dismember or paralyze their prey for caching, depending on the prey size and kind. The p...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Animal Behavior and Cognition
2014-08-01
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| Series: | Animal Behavior and Cognition |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.animalbehaviorandcognition.org/uploads/journals/3/10.Garland_Low_FINAL.pdf |
| _version_ | 1818837602822782976 |
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| author | Alexis Garland Jason Low |
| author_facet | Alexis Garland Jason Low |
| author_sort | Alexis Garland |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | North Island robins of New Zealand are a food hoarding species, which is unique in that they almost exclusively cache highly perishable hunted insects for later retrieval. In order to do so, they either kill and dismember or paralyze their prey for caching, depending on the prey size and kind. The present study comprises two experiments, using a Violation of Expectancy (VoE) paradigm to examine variation in search behavior response to different prey conditions. The first experiment presents three different types of prey (mealworms, earthworms and locusts) in expected (present) and unexpected (absent) conditions. The second experiment presents prey in varying states of animacy (alive and whole, dead and whole, dead and halved, and an inanimate stick) and reveals prey in expected (same state) or unexpected (differing state) conditions. While robins did not respond with differential search times to different types of unexpectedly missing prey in Experiment 1, in Experiment 2 robins searched longer in conditions where prey was found in a differing state of animacy than initially shown. Robins also searched longer for prey when immediately consuming retrieved prey than when caching retrieved prey. Results indicate that North Island robins may be sensitive to prey animacy upon storage and retrieval of insect prey; such information could play a role in storage, pilfering and retrieval strategies of such a perishable food source. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-19T03:25:07Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-520764325f5645528216b52ccce66832 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2372-5052 2372-4323 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-19T03:25:07Z |
| publishDate | 2014-08-01 |
| publisher | Animal Behavior and Cognition |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Animal Behavior and Cognition |
| spelling | doaj.art-520764325f5645528216b52ccce668322022-12-21T20:37:40ZengAnimal Behavior and CognitionAnimal Behavior and Cognition2372-50522372-43232014-08-011335236710.12966/abc.08.10.2014Wild North Island Robins (Petroica longipes) respond to Prey AnimacyAlexis GarlandJason LowNorth Island robins of New Zealand are a food hoarding species, which is unique in that they almost exclusively cache highly perishable hunted insects for later retrieval. In order to do so, they either kill and dismember or paralyze their prey for caching, depending on the prey size and kind. The present study comprises two experiments, using a Violation of Expectancy (VoE) paradigm to examine variation in search behavior response to different prey conditions. The first experiment presents three different types of prey (mealworms, earthworms and locusts) in expected (present) and unexpected (absent) conditions. The second experiment presents prey in varying states of animacy (alive and whole, dead and whole, dead and halved, and an inanimate stick) and reveals prey in expected (same state) or unexpected (differing state) conditions. While robins did not respond with differential search times to different types of unexpectedly missing prey in Experiment 1, in Experiment 2 robins searched longer in conditions where prey was found in a differing state of animacy than initially shown. Robins also searched longer for prey when immediately consuming retrieved prey than when caching retrieved prey. Results indicate that North Island robins may be sensitive to prey animacy upon storage and retrieval of insect prey; such information could play a role in storage, pilfering and retrieval strategies of such a perishable food source.http://www.animalbehaviorandcognition.org/uploads/journals/3/10.Garland_Low_FINAL.pdfNew Zealand robinCachingFood hoardingAnimacyPrey |
| spellingShingle | Alexis Garland Jason Low Wild North Island Robins (Petroica longipes) respond to Prey Animacy Animal Behavior and Cognition New Zealand robin Caching Food hoarding Animacy Prey |
| title | Wild North Island Robins (Petroica longipes) respond to Prey Animacy |
| title_full | Wild North Island Robins (Petroica longipes) respond to Prey Animacy |
| title_fullStr | Wild North Island Robins (Petroica longipes) respond to Prey Animacy |
| title_full_unstemmed | Wild North Island Robins (Petroica longipes) respond to Prey Animacy |
| title_short | Wild North Island Robins (Petroica longipes) respond to Prey Animacy |
| title_sort | wild north island robins petroica longipes respond to prey animacy |
| topic | New Zealand robin Caching Food hoarding Animacy Prey |
| url | http://www.animalbehaviorandcognition.org/uploads/journals/3/10.Garland_Low_FINAL.pdf |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT alexisgarland wildnorthislandrobinspetroicalongipesrespondtopreyanimacy AT jasonlow wildnorthislandrobinspetroicalongipesrespondtopreyanimacy |