Fawcett, T. W., Skinner, A. M. J., & Goldsmith, A. R. (2002). A test of imitative learning in starlings using a two-action method with an enhanced ghost control. Anim. Behav., 64(4), 547–556.
Abstract: Imitative learning, in which an individual learns to reproduce the behaviour pattern of another, has attracted considerable attention as a potentially powerful form of social learning. Despite extensive research, however, it has proved difficult to demonstrate in nonhuman animals. We investigated the ability of European starlings, Sturnus vulgaris, to imitate the behaviour of a conspecific. Subjects watched a trained conspecific manipulating a plug for access to a food reward, using either a pushing or a pulling action. When later tested with the same apparatus these birds completed the task using the same action they had previously observed. In a second experiment, a separate group of starlings saw the plug move upwards or downwards automatically and a nearby conspecific obtain a food reward. When given access to the task these starlings failed to move the plug in the direction they had seen. Our experiment is an improvement on previous bidirectional control designs and provides strong evidence that starlings are capable of imitation. We advocate further use of this experimental design in attempts to demonstrate imitative learning. Copyright 2002 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Feh, C.,. (1990). Long-term paternity data in relation to different aspects of rank for Camargue stallions, Equus caballus. Anim. Behav., 40(5), 995–996.
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Feh, C. (2005). Relationships and Communication in Socially Natural Horse Herds. In D. S. Mills, & S. M. McDonnell (Eds.), The domestic horse : the origins, development, and management of its behaviour. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2005.
Abstract: Horses are quite unique. In most mammals, sexes segregate and maintain bonds only during the breeding season (Clutton-Brock, 1989). Some canids, a few rodents and primate species such as gorillas, hamadryas baboons and red howler monkeys are the exception, where the same males stay with the same females all year round and over many breeding seasons. Typically, both sexes disperse at puberty in these species. In horses, it was clearly shown that the causes for female dispersal were incest avoidance and not intra-specific competition (Monard, 1996). As a rule, this is confirmed for mammal species where tenure length by males exceeds the age at first reproduction in females (Clutton-Brock, 1989). When horses are allowed to choose their mating partner freely, the inbreeding coefficient of the offspring is lower than expected should they mate randomly (Duncan et al, 1984).
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Feh, C. (2001). Alliances between stallions are more than just multimale groups: reply to Linklater & Cameron (2000). Anim. Behav., 61, F27–F30.
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Feh, C. (1999). Alliances and reproductive success in Camargue stallions. Anim. Behav., 57(3), 705–713.
Abstract: A study of a herd of Camargue horsesEquus caballus, showed that while the majority of high-ranking stallions held single-male harems, some sons of low-ranking mares, being low ranking themselves, formed alliances that could last a lifetime. The two stallions were each other's closest associate and preferential grooming partner. Alliances were based on coalitions in which either both partners confronted an intruder synchronously or the dominant of the pair tended the female(s) while the subordinate simultaneously displayed towards the rival. Alliance partners were of similar age but were not more closely related to each other than to other stallions in the herd. Long-term paternity data revealed that subordinates sired close to a quarter of the foals born into the alliance group, and significantly more foals than low-ranking stallions in the herd adopting a `sneak'-mating strategy. The dominant appeared to benefit from the presence of his subordinate partner. Fights occurred all year round, and the subordinate stallion of each alliance pair fought outside competitors more than twice as often as the dominant. Forming short-term alliances before defending mares on their own may enhance long-term reproductive success for both partners. Other benefits to both partners include higher survivorship of their foals and increased access to proven reproductive mares. These results suggest that the relationship between alliance partners is based on mutualism, but several conditions for reciprocity seem to be fulfilled: the benefit to the dominant (assistance in fights), and the benefit to the subordinate (access to reproduction), are both costly to the other partner and delayed in time.
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Feh, C. (1988). Social behaviour and relationships of Prezewalski horses in Dutch semi-reserves. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci., 21(1-2), 71–87.
Abstract: A short-term study was made of 2 groups of Przewalski horses, a bachelor group of 4 juvenile stallions in Ooij Polder and a harem group of 1 stallion and 4 mares. All social interactions were recorded and the nearest and farthest neighbour was noted. Correspondence analysis was used to determine what parameters determined the relationships among the horses. There was a linear hierarchy among the bachelor stallions. The dominant stallion of the group was also the oldest. The hierarchy was not linear in the harem group, and the 3-year-old stallion was subordinate to the 5-year-old mares. He was also most likely to be farthest from other horses. The mares of the same age, who had also arrived in the park at the same time, tended to be one another's nearest neighbours. The frequency of aggression is higher among Przewalski horses than among domestic horses of similar ages. Correspondence analysis revealed that head-threats and other forms of aggression accounted for more of the variance in the data than any other behaviour, but submission, play and social interactions also contributed.
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Feh, C., & de Mazières, J. (1993). Grooming at a preferred site reduces heart rate in horses. Anim. Behav., 46(6), 1191–1194.
Abstract: Abstract. It is commonly suggested that the principal function of allogrooming is to reduce social tension between group members, but direct evidence of the physiological consequences of grooming at particular sites is lacking. By filming allogrooming sequences in a herd of Camargue horses, Equus caballus , their preferred grooming site, which lies on the lower neck, was identified. Experimental imitation of grooming at this site reduced the heart rate of the recipient while grooming on a non-preferred area did not, in both adults and foals. This preferred site lies close to a major ganglion of the autonomic nervous system.
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Feh, C., & Munkhtuya, B. (2008). Male infanticide and paternity analyses in a socially natural herd of Przewalski`s horses: Sexual selection? Behav. Process., 78(3), 335–339.
Abstract: The sexual selection hypothesis explains infanticide by males in many mammals. In our 11-year study, we investigated this hypothesis in a herd of Przewalski's horses where we had witnessed infanticidal attacks. Infanticide was highly conditional and not simply linked to takeovers. Attacks occurred in only five of 39 cases following a takeover, and DNA paternity revealed that, although infanticidal stallions were not the genetic fathers in four cases out of five, stallions present at birth did not significantly attempt to kill unrelated foals. Infanticide did not reduce birth intervals; only in one case out of five was the infanticidal stallion, the father of the next foal; mothers whose foals were attacked subsequently avoided associating with infanticidal stallions. Therefore, evidence for the sexual selection hypothesis was weak. The “human disturbance” hypothesis received some support, as only zoo bred stallions which grew up in unnatural social groups attacked foals of mares which were pregnant during takeovers.
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Fernández-Juricic, E., Smith, R., & Kacelnik, A. (2005). Increasing the costs of conspecific scanning in socially foraging starlings affects vigilance and foraging behaviour. Anim. Behav., 69(1), 73–81.
Abstract: Social foragers receive and use information both about companions (social information) and about events external to the group, such as presence of potential predators. Scanning behaviour is often incorporated in theoretical models using simplifying assumptions in relation to the trade-off in information gathering between body postures (head-up versus head-down); however, some avian visual systems may allow individuals to scan in both body postures. We studied these issues experimentally, using starlings, Sturnus vulgaris, foraging in enclosures on natural fields. We varied the availability of information from conspecifics by placing visual barriers that blocked the view when the subjects were in head-down position and by manipulating the distance between group members. We found that as social information was reduced, starlings spent more time scanning (on and off the ground) and head-up scanning was mainly oriented towards conspecifics. The visual-obstruction effects imply that some information about conspecifics is normally gathered while starlings are foraging head-down. Neighbour distance and visual obstruction negatively affected food-searching rates and intake rates in two ways: (1) the effect of obstruction was mediated mostly through time competition between foraging and scanning on the ground, and (2) the effect of distance was due to a reduction in the rate of prey returns per searching effort while the birds were head-down. We conclude that the head-up posture is only one component of scanning, that the effects of head-down scanning should also be considered in species with ample visual fields, and that scanning in starlings is strongly connected to monitoring other flock members.
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Feuerstein, N., & Terkel, J. (2008). Interrelationships of dogs (Canis familiaris) and cats (Felis catus L.) living under the same roof. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci., 113(1-3), 150–165.
Abstract: In the process of domestication, dogs (Canis familiaris) and cats (Felis catus) have undergone thousands of years of genetic changes that have adapted them to the human environment. Both species have acquired a global distribution and it has become quite common to find homes with the two living side by side. Nevertheless, there is widespread belief that interspecific communication between dogs and cats is problematic, stemming from their separate evolutionary development and different social structures. Consequently, many people considering possible adoption of both species are concerned about their ability to get along. Interrelationships of dogs and cats living together were studied here in an attempt to determine the main factors influencing the type of relationship likely to develop between the two species. Two approaches were used: (1) a questionnaire completed by owners of both dog(s) and cat(s), which provided a broad database of the animals' behaviors; and (2) observations carried out in participants' homes on their dog-cat interactions. Two separate ethograms for dogs and cats served for analyses of their body language. The findings revealed the following: Both species showed a similar ability to establish a relatively amicable relationship with the other species; the animals' gender had little influence on the nature of their interrelationship; and adoption of the cat prior to the dog appears to conduce to establishing an amicable relationship, as does their first encounter taking place at an early age (up to 6 months of age in cats and up to 1 year in dogs). The findings also suggest that the majority of these dogs and cats understood the particular body language displayed by one animal that has an opposite meaning for the other species; and that the earlier the age of first encounter between the two, the better this understanding. It can be concluded that exposure of both species at an early age to the presence of the other facilitates the learning of each other's body language, and the consequent establishment of an amicable relationship. A better understanding of the various factors that contribute to determining the two species' relationship should not only improve the quality of life of these pets, but also reassure and encourage more people to adopt both cat and dog.
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