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Author Peake, T.M.; Terry, A.M.; McGregor, P.K.; Dabelsteen, T. doi  openurl
  Title Male great tits eavesdrop on simulated male-to-male vocal interactions Type Journal Article
  Year (up) 2001 Publication Proceedings. Biological sciences / The Royal Society Abbreviated Journal Proc Biol Sci  
  Volume 268 Issue 1472 Pages 1183-1187  
  Keywords Animals; Male; Songbirds/*physiology; *Vocalization, Animal  
  Abstract Animal communication generally occurs in the environment of a network of several potential signallers and receivers. Within a network environment, it is possible to gain relative information about conspecifics by eavesdropping on signalling interactions. We presented male great tits with the opportunity to gain such information by simulating singing interactions using two loudspeakers. Interactions were presented so that relevant information was not available in the absolute singing behaviour of either individual, only in the relative timing of their songs in the interaction as a whole. We then assayed the information extracted by focal males by subsequently introducing one of the 'interactants' (i.e. loudspeakers) into the territory of the focal male. Focal males responded with a reduced song output to males that had just 'lost' an interaction. Focal males did not respond significantly differently to 'winners' as compared with intruders recently involved in an interaction that contained no consistent information. Focal males also responded by switching song types more often when encountering males that had recently been involved in a low-intensity interaction. These results provide the clearest evidence yet that male songbirds extract information from signal interactions between conspecifics in the field.  
  Address Department of Animal Behaviour, Zoological Institute, Tagensvej 16, University of Copenhagen, 2200 Copenhagen N, Denmark. tmpeake@zi.ku.dk  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
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  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0962-8452 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:11375107 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 712  
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Author Marfin, A.A.; Petersen, L.R.; Eidson, M.; Miller, J.; Hadler, J.; Farello, C.; Werner, B.; Campbell, G.L.; Layton, M.; Smith, P.; Bresnitz, E.; Cartter, M.; Scaletta, J.; Obiri, G.; Bunning, M.; Craven, R.C.; Roehrig, J.T.; Julian, K.G.; Hinten, S.R.; Gubler, D.J. openurl 
  Title Widespread West Nile virus activity, eastern United States, 2000 Type Journal Article
  Year (up) 2001 Publication Emerging Infectious Diseases Abbreviated Journal Emerg Infect Dis  
  Volume 7 Issue 4 Pages 730-735  
  Keywords Animals; Bird Diseases/epidemiology/virology; Culicidae/virology; *Disease Outbreaks; Ecology; Horse Diseases/epidemiology/virology; Horses; Humans; Population Surveillance; Songbirds/virology; United States/epidemiology; West Nile Fever/*epidemiology/veterinary/virology; *West Nile virus  
  Abstract In 1999, the U.S. West Nile (WN) virus epidemic was preceded by widespread reports of avian deaths. In 2000, ArboNET, a cooperative WN virus surveillance system, was implemented to monitor the sentinel epizootic that precedes human infection. This report summarizes 2000 surveillance data, documents widespread virus activity in 2000, and demonstrates the utility of monitoring virus activity in animals to identify human risk for infection.  
  Address Division of Vector-Borne Infections Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, P.O. Box 2087, Fort Collins, CO 80522, USA. aam@cdc.gov  
  Corporate Author ArboNET Cooperative Surveillance Group Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1080-6040 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:11585539 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2646  
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Author Macphail, E.M.; Boldhuis, J.J doi  openurl
  Title The evolution of intelligence: adaptive specializations versusgeneral process Type Journal Article
  Year (up) 2001 Publication Biological Reviews Abbreviated Journal  
  Volume 76 Issue 3 Pages 341-364  
  Keywords biological constraints, corvids, ecology, food-storing birds, hippocampal size, parids, spatial learning, spatial memory, spatial module.  
  Abstract Darwin argued that between-species differences in intelligence were differences of degree, not of kind. The contemporary ecological approach to animal cognition argues that animals have evolved species-specific and problem-specific processes to solve problems associated with their particular ecological niches: thus different species use different processes, and within a species, different processes are used to tackle problems involving different inputs. This approach contrasts both with Darwin's view and with the general process view, according to which the same central processes of learning and memory are used across an extensive range of problems involving very different inputs. We review evidence relevant to the claim that the learning and memory performance of non-human animals varies according to the nature of the stimuli involved. We first discuss the resource distribution hypothesis, olfactory learning-set formation, and the 'biological constraints' literature, but find no convincing support from these topics for the ecological account of cognition. We then discuss the claim that the performance of birds in spatial tasks of learning and memory is superior in species that depend heavily upon stored food compared to species that either show less dependence upon stored food or do not store food. If it could be shown that storing species enjoy a superiority specifically in spatial (and not non-spatial) tasks, this would argue that spatial tasks are indeed solved using different processes from those used in non-spatial tasks. Our review of this literature does not find a consistent superiority of storing over non-storing birds in spatial tasks, and, in particular, no evidence of enhanced superiority of storing species when the task demands are increased, by, for example, increasing the number of items to be recalled or the duration of the retention period. We discuss also the observation that the hippocampus of storing birds is larger than that of non-storing birds, and find evidence contrary to the view that hippocampal enlargement is associated with enhanced spatial memory; we are, however, unable to suggest a convincing alternative explanation for hippocampal enlargement. The failure to find solid support for the ecological view supports the view that there are no qualitative differences in cognition between animal species in the processes of learning and memory. We also argue that our review supports our contention that speculation about the phylogenetic development and function of behavioural processes does not provide a solid basis for gaining insight into the nature of those processes. We end by confessing to a belief in one major qualitative difference in cognition in animals: we believe that humans alone are capable of acquiring language, and that it is this capacity that divides our intelligence so sharply from non-human intelligence.  
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  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4797  
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Author Jones, J.E.; Antoniadis, E.; Shettleworth, S.J.; Kamil, A.C. openurl 
  Title A comparative study of geometric rule learning by nutcrackers (Nucifraga columbiana), pigeons (Columba livia), and jackdaws (Corvus monedula) Type Journal Article
  Year (up) 2002 Publication Journal of comparative psychology (Washington, D.C. : 1983) Abbreviated Journal J Comp Psychol  
  Volume 116 Issue 4 Pages 350-356  
  Keywords Animals; Behavior, Animal/physiology; Birds; Feeding Behavior/physiology; Learning/*physiology; *Mathematics; Random Allocation; Spatial Behavior/*physiology  
  Abstract Three avian species, a seed-caching corvid (Clark's nutcrackers; Nucifraga columbiana), a non-seed-caching corvid (jackdaws; Corvus monedula), and a non-seed-caching columbid (pigeons; Columba livia), were tested for ability to learn to find a goal halfway between 2 landmarks when distance between the landmarks varied during training. All 3 species learned, but jackdaws took much longer than either pigeons or nutcrackers. The nutcrackers searched more accurately than either pigeons or jackdaws. Both nutcrackers and pigeons showed good transfer to novel landmark arrays in which interlandmark distances were novel, but inconclusive results were obtained from jackdaws. Species differences in this spatial task appear quantitative rather than qualitative and are associated with differences in natural history rather than phylogeny.  
  Address School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 68588-0118, USA  
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  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0735-7036 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:12539930 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 369  
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Author Shettleworth, S.J.; Westwood, R.P. openurl 
  Title Divided attention, memory, and spatial discrimination in food-storing and nonstoring birds, black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapilla) and dark-eyed juncos (Junco hyemalis) Type Journal Article
  Year (up) 2002 Publication Journal of experimental psychology. Animal behavior processes Abbreviated Journal J Exp Psychol Anim Behav Process  
  Volume 28 Issue 3 Pages 227-241  
  Keywords Animals; Attention/*physiology; Behavior, Animal/physiology; Birds; *Discrimination (Psychology); *Food Habits; Memory/*physiology; Space Perception/*physiology; Spatial Behavior/*physiology  
  Abstract Food-storing birds, black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapilla), and nonstoring birds, dark-eyed juncos (Junco hyemalis), matched color or location on a touch screen. Both species showed a divided attention effect for color but not for location (Experiment 1). Chickadees performed better on location than on color with retention intervals up to 40 s, but juncos did not (Experiment 2). Increasing sample-distractor distance improved performance similarly in both species. Multidimensional scaling revealed that both use a Euclidean metric of spatial similarity (Experiment 3). When choosing between the location and color of a remembered item, food storers choose location more than do nonstorers. These results explain this effect by differences in memory for location relative to color, not division of attention or spatial discrimination ability.  
  Address Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, 100 Saint George Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G3, Canada. shettle@psych.utoronto.ca  
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  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0097-7403 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:12136700 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 370  
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Author Peake, T.M.; Terry, A.M.R.; McGregor, P.K.; Dabelsteen, T. doi  openurl
  Title Do great tits assess rivals by combining direct experience with information gathered by eavesdropping? Type Journal Article
  Year (up) 2002 Publication Proceedings. Biological sciences / The Royal Society Abbreviated Journal Proc Biol Sci  
  Volume 269 Issue 1503 Pages 1925-1929  
  Keywords Aggression; *Animal Communication; Animals; Male; Songbirds/*physiology; Territoriality; *Vocalization, Animal  
  Abstract Animals frequently use signals that travel further than the spacing between individuals. For every intended recipient of a given signal there are likely to be many other individuals that receive information. Eavesdropping on signalling interactions between other individuals provides a relatively cost-free method of assessing future opponents or mates. Male great tits (Parus major) extract relative information from such interactions between individuals unknown to them. Here, we show that male great tits can take information gathering a stage further and obtain more information about a previously unencountered intruder, by the hitherto unknown capability of combining information gathered by eavesdropping with that derived from their own direct interaction with an individual. Prior experience with an intruder (A) was achieved by subjecting a focal male to different levels of intrusion simulated using interactive playback. This intruder (A) then took part in a simulated interaction with an unknown male (B) outside the territorial boundary of the focal males. In response to subsequent intrusion by the second male (B), focal males showed low song output in response to males that had lost to a male that the subject was able to beat. Males of known high quality, or those about which information was ambiguous, elicited a high level of song output by focal males. We discuss the implications of this finding for the evolution of communication and social behaviour.  
  Address Department of Animal Behaviour, Zoological Institute, Copenhagen University, Tagensvej 16, DK 2200 Copenhagen N, Denmark. tmpeake@zi.ku.uk  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0962-8452 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:12350255 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 501  
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Author Watve, M.; Thakar, J.; Kale, A.; Puntambekar, S.; Shaikh, I.; Vaze, K.; Jog, M.; Paranjape, S. doi  openurl
  Title Bee-eaters ( Merops orientalis) respond to what a predator can see Type Journal Article
  Year (up) 2002 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 5 Issue 4 Pages 253-259  
  Keywords Animals; Birds/*physiology; *Predatory Behavior; *Visual Perception  
  Abstract Two sets of experiments are reported that show that the small green bee-eater ( Merops orientalis, a small tropical bird) can appreciate what a predator can or cannot see. Bee-eaters avoid entering the nest in the presence of a potential nest predator. In the first set of experiments bee-eaters entered the nest more frequently when the predator was unable to see the nest from its position, as compared to an approximately equidistant position from which the nest could be seen. In the second set of experiments bee-eaters entered the nest more frequently when the predator was looking away from the nest. The angle of gaze from the nest was associated significantly positively with the probability of entering the nest whereas the angle from the bird was not. Birds showed considerable flexibility as well as individual variation in the possible methods of judging the predator's position and direction of gaze.  
  Address Life Research Foundation, 10, Pranav, 1000/6C Navi Peth, Pune 411030, India. watve@vsnl.com  
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  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:12461603 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2587  
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Author Waite, T.A. doi  openurl
  Title Interruptions improve choice performance in gray jays: prolonged information processing versus minimization of costly errors Type Journal Article
  Year (up) 2002 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 5 Issue 4 Pages 209-214  
  Keywords Animals; *Behavior, Animal; *Choice Behavior; Female; Learning; Male; Models, Biological; Motivation; Reinforcement Schedule; Songbirds/*physiology; Time Factors  
  Abstract Under the assumption that selection favors minimization of costly errors, erroneous choice may be common when its fitness cost is low. According to an adaptive-choice model, this cost depends on the rate at which an animal encounters the choice: the higher this rate, the smaller the cost of choosing a less valuable option. Errors should thus be more common when interruptions to foraging are shorter. A previous experiment supported this prediction: gray jays, Perisoreus canadensis, were more error prone when subjected to shorter delays to access to food rewards. This pattern, though, is also predicted by an attentional-constraints model. Because the subjects were able to inspect the rewards during delays, their improved performance when subjected to longer delays could have been a byproduct of the experimentally prolonged opportunity for information processing. To evaluate this possibility, a follow-up experiment manipulated both delay to access and whether rewards could be inspected during delays. Depriving jays of the opportunity to inspect rewards (using opaque lids) induced only a small, nonsignificant increase in error rate. This effect was independent of length of delay and so the jays' improved performance when subjected to longer delays was not simply a byproduct of prolonged information processing. More definitively, even when the jays were prevented from inspecting rewards during delays, their performance improved when subjected to longer delays. The findings are thus consistent with the adaptive-choice model.  
  Address Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, Ohio State University, 1735 Neil Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210-1293, USA. waite.1@osu.edu  
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  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:12461598 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2592  
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Author Hauber, M.E.; Pearson, H.E.; Reh, A.; Merges, A. doi  openurl
  Title Discrimination between host songs by brood parasitic brown-headed cowbirds ( Molothrus ater) Type Journal Article
  Year (up) 2002 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 5 Issue 3 Pages 129-137  
  Keywords Animals; *Auditory Perception; *Discrimination Learning; Female; Male; Sexual Behavior; *Songbirds; *Vocalization, Animal  
  Abstract Songbirds can learn both to produce and to discriminate between different classes of acoustic stimuli. Varying levels of auditory discrimination may improve the fitness of individuals in certain ecological and social contexts and, thus, selection is expected to mold the cognitive abilities of different species according to the potential benefits of acoustic processing. Although fine-scale auditory discrimination of conspecific songs and calls has been frequently reported for brood parasitic brown-headed cowbirds ( Molothrus ater), it remains unclear why and how they perceive differently the songs of their many host species. Using habituation-dishabituation paradigms and measuring behavioral and physiological (heart-rate) responses, we found that captive female cowbirds consistently discriminated between songs of two host species, the song sparrow ( Melospiza melodia) and the red-winged blackbird ( Agelaius phoeniceus). Playback experiments with stimuli composed of con-specific followed by heterospecific vocalizations in the field also demonstrated discrimination between these heterospecific songs even though cowbirds were not attracted to playbacks of either host species' songs alone. Our results do not directly support a nest-searching function of heterospecific song discrimination by cowbirds and are most consistent with a function of the parasites' avoidance of attacks by their aggressive hosts. These data demonstrate discrimination between heterospecific vocalizations by brown-headed cowbirds and add a novel dimension to the already expansive auditory perceptual abilities of brood parasitic species and other songbirds.  
  Address Field Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell, University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA. hauberm@socrates.berkeley.edu  
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  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:12357285 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2600  
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Author Brazas, M.L.; Shimizu, T. doi  openurl
  Title Significance of visual cues in choice behavior in the female zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata castanotis) Type Journal Article
  Year (up) 2002 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.  
  Volume 5 Issue 2 Pages 91-95  
  Keywords Animals; Auditory Perception; Female; Male; *Sexual Behavior, Animal; Social Behavior; *Songbirds; *Visual Perception; Vocalization, Animal  
  Abstract Female zebra finches show a preference for male zebra finches over heterospecific males based solely on the auditory cues of males, such as songs. The present study was designed to investigate whether females show a similar preference for male zebra finches based solely on visual cues. Using a Y-maze apparatus, social preference of female zebra finches was studied between male zebra finches and male Bengalese finches in three experiments. In experiment 1, where female zebra finches could see and hear live male zebra finches and male Bengalese finches, the females preferred to associate with the male zebra finches. In experiment 2, using a sound-attenuated experimental apparatus, subjects could see, but not hear, male zebra finches and male Bengalese finches. The subjects did not show a significant preference for associating with zebra finches. In experiment 3, as in experiment 2, females could see live male zebra finches and male Bengalese finches in the sound-attenuated chambers. However, in experiment 3, the subjects also heard prerecorded auditory cues (i.e., songs and calls) of male zebra finches, which were presented simultaneously in both arms of the maze. Although the females could not use the auditory cues to identify the location of the male zebra finches, they preferred to associate with the male zebra finches rather than the male Bengalese finches. These results suggest that visual cues alone were effective in initiating choice behaviors by females and that auditory cues facilitate such visually based choice behaviors.  
  Address Department of Psychology, University of South Florida, PCD4118G, 4202 East Fowler Avenue, Tampa, FL 33620, USA  
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  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
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  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:12150041 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2603  
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