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| Author |
Range, F.; Bugnyar, T.; Schlogl, C.; Kotrschal, K. |
| Title |
Individual and sex differences in learning abilities of ravens |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2006 |
Publication |
Behavioural Processes |
Abbreviated Journal |
Behav. Process. |
| Volume |
73 |
Issue |
1 |
Pages |
100-106 |
Keywords  |
Animals; Behavior, Animal/*physiology; *Crows; Discrimination Learning/*physiology; Exploratory Behavior/physiology; Female; *Individuality; Male; Sex Factors; Spatial Behavior |
| Abstract |
Behavioral and physiological characteristics of individuals within the same species have been found to be stable across time and contexts. In this study, we investigated individual differences in learning abilities and object and social manipulation to test for consistency within individuals across different tasks. Individual ravens (Corvus corax) were tested in simple color and position discrimination tasks to establish their learning abilities. We found that males were significantly better in the acquisition of the first discrimination task and the object manipulation task, but not in any of the other tasks. Furthermore, faster learners engaged less often in manipulations of conspecifics and exploration of objects to get access to food. No relationship between object and social manipulation and reversal training were found. Our results suggest that individual differences in regard to the acquisition of new tasks may be related to personalities or at least object manipulation in ravens. |
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Konrad Lorenz Research Station, A-4645 Gruenau 11, Austria. friederike.range@univie.ac.at |
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English |
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0376-6357 |
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PMID:16675158 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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4146 |
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| Author |
Schloegl, C.; Kotrschal, K.; Bugnyar, T. |
| Title |
Gaze following in common ravens, Corvus corax: ontogeny and habituation |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2007 |
Publication |
Animal Behaviour. |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Behav. |
| Volume |
74 |
Issue |
4 |
Pages |
769-778 |
| Keywords |
Corvus corax; gaze following; habituation; ontogenetic development; raven |
| Abstract |
Co-orientation with others by using their gaze direction is considered to be adaptive for detecting food or predators or monitoring social interactions. Like the great apes, common ravens are capable of following human experimenters' gaze direction not only into distant space but also behind visual barriers. We investigated the ontogenetic development of these abilities by confronting birds with a human foster parent looking up (experiment 1) and behind visual barriers (experiment 3) and their modification by habituation (experiments 2 and 4). We tested a group of 12 hand-reared ravens during their first 10 months of life. Ravens responded to others' look-ups soon after fledging but could track their gaze behind a visual barrier only 4 months later, at the age they usually become independent from their parents. Furthermore, ravens quickly ceased responding to repeated look-ups by the model, but did not habituate to repeated gaze cues directed behind a barrier. Our findings support the idea that the two modes of gaze following reflect different cognitive levels in ravens and, possibly, have different functions. |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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4204 |
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| Author |
Schloegl, C.; Kotrschal, K.; Bugnyar, T. |
| Title |
Modifying the object-choice task: Is the way you look important for ravens? |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2008 |
Publication |
Behavioural Processes |
Abbreviated Journal |
Behav. Process. |
| Volume |
77 |
Issue |
1 |
Pages |
61-65 |
| Keywords |
Gaze; Modification; Object-choice task; Raven |
| Abstract |
Most animals seem to have difficulties in using gaze cues to find hidden food in object-choice tasks. For instance, chimpanzees usually fail in these tests, even though they are capable of following other's gaze geometrically behind barriers. Similar to chimpanzees, common ravens are skilled in tracking other's gaze but fail in object-choice tasks. We here explored whether procedural modifications, which had been used successfully in chimpanzees, would also yield positive results in ravens. In our modifications (a) the experimenter approached the cup while gazing at it, (b) the gaze cue was accompanied by a sound and (c) the experimenter could actually see the food while giving the gaze cue. Two out of seven birds performed above chance level in some of these conditions. However, we ascribe this improvement to the individuals' learning ability rather than to an understanding of the communicative nature of the task. This interpretation is further supported by results of a follow-up experiment suggesting that ravens may not rely on conspecifics' gaze cues for finding food caches in a natural foraging context. In sum, our results suggest that ravens may not transfer their gaze follow abilities to foraging situations involving hidden food. |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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4505 |
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Schmidt, J.; Scheid, C.; Kotrschal, K.; Bugnyar, T.; Schloegl, C. |
| Title |
Gaze direction – A cue for hidden food in rooks (Corvus frugilegus)? |
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Journal Article |
| Year |
2011 |
Publication |
Behavioural Processes |
Abbreviated Journal |
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88 |
Issue |
2 |
Pages |
88-93 |
| Keywords |
Gaze; Object choice; Corvids; Effort; Rooks |
| Abstract |
Other individual's head- and eye-directions can be used as social cues indicating the presence of important events. Among birds, ravens and rooks have been shown to co-orient with conspecifics and with humans by following their gaze direction into distant space and behind visual screens. Both species use screens to cache food in private; also, it had been suggested that they may rely on gaze cues to detect hidden food. However, in an object-choice task, ravens failed to do so, and their competitive lifestyle may have prevented them from relying on these cues. Here we tested closely related and cooperative rooks. Food was hidden in one of two cups and the experimenter gazed at the baited cup. In a second experiment, we aimed to increase the birds’ motivation to choose correctly by increasing the investment needed to obtain the reward. To do so, the birds had to pull on a string to obtain the cup. Here, the birds as a group tended to rely on gaze cues. In addition, individual birds quickly learned to use the cue in both experiments. Although rooks may not use gaze cues to find hidden food spontaneously, they may quickly learn to do so. |
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0376-6357 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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5420 |
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| Author |
Bugnyar, T.; Kotrschal, K. |
| Title |
Leading a conspecific away from food in ravens ( Corvus corax)? |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2004 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
| Volume |
7 |
Issue |
2 |
Pages |
69-76 |
| Keywords |
Misleading – Deception – Raven – Social foraging |
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Active misleading of conspecifics has been described as a social strategy mainly for primates. Here we report a raven leading a competitor away from food in a social foraging task. Four individuals had to search and compete for hidden food at color-marked clusters of artificial food caches. At the beginning of the experiment, a subordinate male found and exploited the majority of the food. As a result, the dominant male displaced him from the already opened boxes. The subordinate male then developed a pattern, when the loss of reward to the dominant got high, of moving to unrewarded clusters and opening boxes there. This diversion often led the dominant to approach those unrewarded clusters and the subordinate then had a head start for exploiting the rewarded boxes. Subsequently, however, the dominant male learned not to follow the subordinate to unrewarded clusters and eventually started searching for the reward himself. These interactions between the two males illustrate the ravens' potential for deceptively manipulating conspecifics. We discuss under which circumstances ravens might use this capacity. |
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2080 |
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Bugnyar, T.; Kotrschal, K. |
| Title |
Movement coordination and signalling in ravens (Corvus corax): an experimental field study |
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Journal Article |
| Year |
2001 |
Publication |
Acta ethologica |
Abbreviated Journal |
Acta. Ethol. |
| Volume |
3 |
Issue |
2 |
Pages |
101-109 |
| Keywords |
Ravens – Corvus corax – Foraging – Coordination – Communication |
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Vagrant non-breeding ravens frequently attract conspecifics to rich ephemeral food sources. There, grouping may allow them to overcome the defence of territorial breeders. Here, we focus on ravens making use of regular food supplies in a game park, where they divert food from the provision of park animals. We investigated if ravens foraging in the Cumberland game park (Grünau, Austria) are attentive towards one another when they experience some unpredictability in food provisioning. We confronted a group of 30-50 ravens with two different treatments. Ten minutes ahead of the feeding of either wolves or wild boars we showed buckets containing pieces of meat to the ravens flying overhead. In the reliable cue treatment (RCT), the meat was placed next to one of the two enclosures, whereas in the unreliable cue treatment (UCT), the buckets were placed simultaneously in front of both enclosures though only in one of the enclosures were the animals fed 10 min later. Thus, during RCT but not during UCT, ravens could predict where food would become available. Only during UCT, ravens moved in large groups between the two feeding sites. Many ravens moving at the same time in the same direction may indicate some co-ordination in space and time, which is most likely achieved by social attraction among individuals. Furthermore, the number of ravens approaching and leaving, respectively, a feeding site cross-correlated with a temporary increase in the rate of a food-associated call, the yell. This suggests that in addition to watching each other, calling may have contributed to group formation. Possible benefits of group formation during food inspection are discussed. |
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2081 |
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