scholarly journals Combining social information use and comfort-seeking for nest site selection in a cavity-nesting raptor

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Morinay ◽  
Federico De Pascalis ◽  
Davide M. Dominoni ◽  
Michelangelo Morganti ◽  
Francesco Pezzo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nest Site ◽  
Social Information ◽  
Information Use ◽  
Nest Site Selection ◽  
Laying Date ◽  
Peat Moss ◽  
Nest Material ◽  
Information Hypothesis ◽  
Cavity Nesting ◽  
Social Information Use

When selecting a breeding site, individuals can use social information to reduce the uncertainty regarding habitat quality. In particular, individuals from several bird species tend to reuse nests previously occupied by competitors. Re-occupying nests previously used by conspecifics or heterospecifics could result from exploiting social information by copying competitors’ choice (the ‘social information’ hypothesis). Alternatively, it could allow fulfilling the needs for a comfortable nest substrate (e.g. by improving thermal insulation or reducing egg breakage risks) at low costs, regardless of previous occupancy (the ‘comfort’ hypothesis). Here, we aimed to determine which of these two mechanisms triggered the preference for old conspecific nest material in a secondary cavity-nesting raptor which does not add lining materials to its nest, the lesser kestrel (Falco naumanni). Using an experimental design forcing settling lesser kestrels to choose between two adjacent nestboxes containing different substrates, we detected a strong preference for comfortable substrates (peat moss, or conspecific or European roller old nest material) over uncomfortable mineral substrate, especially when the comfortable substrate also provided social information about previous nest use by a competitor. Despite the apparent absence of preference when directly comparing settlement patterns in comfortable substrates with and without social information, early-settling individuals favoured the substrate with social information, while late-settling ones favoured the substrate without social information. This could reflect intraspecific competition avoidance by late arriving individuals that may be competitively inferior compared to early arriving ones. This hypothesis is supported by a later laying date of young (up to two years old) breeders compared to older ones in our population. Our findings suggest that both comfort seeking and social information use explain preference for previously used nest cavities, and that nest site choices may depend on individual competitive abilities and experience.

scholarly journals Combining social information use and comfort seeking for nest site selection in a cavity-nesting raptor

2021 ◽  
Vol 180 ◽  
pp. 167-178
Author(s):  
Jennifer Morinay ◽  
Federico De Pascalis ◽  
Davide M. Dominoni ◽  
Michelangelo Morganti ◽  
Francesco Pezzo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Site Selection ◽  
Nest Site ◽  
Social Information ◽  
Information Use ◽  
Nest Site Selection ◽  
Cavity Nesting ◽  
Social Information Use

Intraspecific social information use in the selection of nest site characteristics

2012 ◽  
Vol 83 (3) ◽  
pp. 629-633 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olli J. Loukola ◽  
Janne-Tuomas Seppänen ◽  
Jukka T. Forsman
Keyword(s):  
Nest Site ◽  
Social Information ◽  
Information Use ◽  
Site Characteristics ◽  
Social Information Use ◽  
Selection Of

scholarly journals Old nest material functions as an informative cue in making nest-site selection decisions in the European Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus)

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mingju E ◽  
Tuo Wang ◽  
Shangyu Wang ◽  
Ye Gong ◽  
Jiangping Yu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Site Selection ◽  
Nest Site ◽  
Nest Site Selection ◽  
Nest Material ◽  
Falco Tinnunculus ◽  
Nest Boxes ◽  
Cavity Nesting ◽  
Selection Decisions ◽  
Nest Materials ◽  
Organic Remains

Abstract Background For secondary cavity-nesting bird species that do not add lining materials to nests, the presence of old nest material or organic remains that have accumulated within nest cavities from previous breeding events may be a cue of nest-site quality. These materials potentially contain information about past breeding success in con- and heterospecifics and may improve the thermal insulation of eggs during incubation. However, few studies have addressed whether the presence of old nest materials serves as a cue for cavity-nesting raptors when choosing specific nest sites. Methods We conducted a 9-year nest box experiment to test whether old nest materials from con- and heterospecifics serve as informative cues to the European Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) when making nest selection decisions, as this species uses nest boxes without adding nesting material. Results The presence of old nest materials and entrance size best discriminated nest boxes occupied by European Kestrels from unoccupied boxes. Nest boxes containing conspecific organic remains, artificial dry leaf and branch material, and material left behind by Great Tits (Parus major) were reused at higher rates, especially those containing conspecific nest material, than nest boxes containing true or simulated nest materials from predators. In 2010, no single nest box was occupied by the same banded individual that occupied the box in the previous year (10 females and 2 males were banded in 2009). Conclusions European Kestrels preferred nest boxes containing old nest material over empty boxes, which is consistent with previous findings that they exploit con- and heterospecific cues when deciding where to settle and breed, as old nest or organic material provides substrate for incubating females. Kestrels may be able to assess the predation risks associated with a specific nest site based on experience or the presence of prey remains. The repeated use of nest boxes across breeding seasons by kestrels cannot be entirely ascribed to philopatry. This study provides evidence that old nest materials are potentially used as informative cues when making nest-site selection decisions in European Kestrels.

scholarly journals Behavioural traits modulate the use of heterospecific social information for nest site selection: experimental evidence from a wild bird population

2020 ◽  
Vol 287 (1925) ◽  
pp. 20200265 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Morinay ◽  
Jukka T. Forsman ◽  
Marion Germain ◽  
Blandine Doligez
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Selection ◽  
Site Selection ◽  
Nest Site ◽  
Social Information ◽  
Reproductive Investment ◽  
Information Use ◽  
Nest Site Selection ◽  
Breeding Habitat ◽  
Ficedula Albicollis ◽  
Underlying Mechanisms

The use of social information for making decisions is common but can be constrained by behavioural traits via, for example, the ability to gather information. Such constrained information use has been described in foraging habitat selection; yet it remains unexplored in the breeding habitat selection context, despite potentially strong fitness consequences. We experimentally tested whether three behavioural traits (aggressiveness, boldness and neophobia) affected the use of heterospecific social information for nest site selection in wild collared flycatchers Ficedula albicollis . Flycatchers have previously been found to copy or reject an artificial apparent preference of tits (their main competitors) for a nest site feature: they preferred nest-boxes with the same or a different feature, depending on tit early reproductive investment. Here, we confirmed this result and showed that shy individuals and less aggressive old males (i.e. 2 years old or older) copied tit apparent preference, while more aggressive old males rejected the tit preference. Aggressiveness and boldness may allow males to access more information sources or affect males' interactions with dominant tits when selecting a nest site. Our study highlights the links between variation in behaviours and social information use for breeding habitat selection and calls for further work to explore underlying mechanisms.

scholarly journals Home, dirty home: effect of old nest material on nest-site selection and breeding performance in a cavity-nesting raptor

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefano Podofillini ◽  
Jacopo G Cecere ◽  
Matteo Griggio ◽  
Andrea Curcio ◽  
Enrico L De Capua ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Site Selection ◽  
Nest Site ◽  
Nest Site Selection ◽  
Nest Material ◽  
Breeding Performance ◽  
Cavity Nesting

scholarly journals Experience shapes social information use in foraging fish

2018 ◽  
Vol 146 ◽  
pp. 63-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mike M. Webster ◽  
Kevin N. Laland
Keyword(s):  
Social Information ◽  
Information Use ◽  
Social Information Use

scholarly journals Collective decision making by rational individuals

2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (44) ◽  
pp. E10387-E10396 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard P. Mann
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Full Range ◽  
Social Information ◽  
Information Use ◽  
Collective Decision ◽  
Collective Decision Making ◽  
Rational Decision ◽  
Rational Decision Making ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Social Information Use

The patterns and mechanisms of collective decision making in humans and animals have attracted both empirical and theoretical attention. Of particular interest has been the variety of social feedback rules and the extent to which these behavioral rules can be explained and predicted from theories of rational estimation and decision making. However, models that aim to model the full range of social information use have incorporated ad hoc departures from rational decision-making theory to explain the apparent stochasticity and variability of behavior. In this paper I develop a model of social information use and collective decision making by fully rational agents that reveals how a wide range of apparently stochastic social decision rules emerge from fundamental information asymmetries both between individuals and between the decision makers and the observer of those decisions. As well as showing that rational decision making is consistent with empirical observations of collective behavior, this model makes several testable predictions about how individuals make decisions in groups and offers a valuable perspective on how we view sources of variability in animal, and human, behavior.

Decreased environmental variability induces a bias for social information use in humans

2009 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulf Toelch ◽  
Marjolijn J. van Delft ◽  
Matthew J. Bruce ◽  
Rogier Donders ◽  
Marius T.H. Meeus ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Variability ◽  
Social Information ◽  
Information Use ◽  
Social Information Use

scholarly journals The Effect of Social Information Use without Learning on the Evolution of Social Behavior

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
James M. Borg ◽  
Alastair Channon
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Life ◽  
Social Information ◽  
Information Use ◽  
Evolutionary System ◽  
Behavioral Differences ◽  
Agent Interaction ◽  
Social Information Use ◽  
Improved Performance ◽  
Foraging Task ◽  
Better Than

In a recent article by Borg and Channon it was shown that social information alone, decoupled from any within-lifetime learning, can result in improved performance on a food-foraging task compared to when social information is unavailable. Here we assess whether access to social information leads to significant behavioral differences both when access to social information leads to improved performance on the task, and when it does not: Do any behaviors resulting from social-information use, such as movement and increased agent interaction, persist even when the ability to discriminate between poisonous and non-poisonous food is no better than when social-information is unavailable? Using a neuroevolutionary artificial life simulation, we show that social-information use can lead to the emergence of behaviors that differ from when social information is unavailable, and that these behaviors act as a promoter of agent interaction. The results presented here suggest that the introduction of social information is sufficient, even when decoupled from within-lifetime learning, for the emergence of pro-social behaviors. We believe this work to be the first use of an artificial evolutionary system to explore the behavioral consequences of social-information use in the absence of within-lifetime learning.

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