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Context-dependent visual preferences in starlings and blue tits: mate choice and light environment
journal contribution
posted on 2002-01-01, 00:00 authored by S Maddocks, Andy Bennett, S Hunt, I CuthillThere is considerable interest in the role that ultraviolet (UV) cues play in the foraging and mate choice decisions of birds. However, with the exception of the zebra finch, Taeniopygia guttata, it is not yet clear whether ultraviolet preferences are context specific, or whether birds show a general preference for full-avian-spectrum environments 320-700 nm) irrespective of the activity in which they are engaged. We investigated whether European starlings, Sturnus vulgaris, and blue tits, Parus caeruleus, show general (nonresource based) or context-specific preferences for full-spectrum environments. We found that neither species showed a general preference for UV-present (UV+) over UV-deficient (UV-) environments, when those environments contained no resources (experiment 1). Furthermore, neither species showed a UV+ preference when cages contained food, water and perches (starlings; experiment 2) or food, perches and heterospecifics (blue tits; Hunt et al. 1999. Animal Behaviour, 58, 809-815). However, both species did show highly significant preferences for UV+ conditions when viewing potential mates. Such experiments are necessary before one can conclude that particular wavebands have specific relevance to mate choice. In fact, our results suggest that the importance of particular wavelength compositions do indeed vary with behavioural context. (C) 2002 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.
History
Journal
Animal behaviourVolume
63Issue
1Pagination
69 - 75Publisher
ElsevierLocation
London, EnglandPublisher DOI
ISSN
0003-3472eISSN
1095-8282Language
engPublication classification
C1.1 Refereed article in a scholarly journalCopyright notice
2002, The Association for the Study of Animal BehaviourUsage metrics
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