DOCSLIB.ORG

A Review of Some Aspects of Avian Field Ethology 1

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
A Review of Some Aspects of Avian Field Ethology 1 A REVIEW OF SOME ASPECTS OF AVIAN FIELD ETHOLOGY 1 ROBERT W. FICKEN AND MILLICENT S. FICKEN T•E last 30 yearshave seen the developmentof a new approachto the study of behavior, which has increasinglyinterested ornithologists as they have attemptedto understandavian biologyfully. This new ap- proachis now known as ethology. Both amateur and professionalorni- thologistshave contributedto its progressfrom the beginning. A basictenet of ethologyis that all behaviorof animalscan eventually be understood.The ethologistattempts to explainbehavior functionally (what doesit do for the animal?), causally(what are the internal and externalfactors responsible for each given behavior?),and evolutionarily (what is the probablephylogeny of the behavior,how doesit contribute to th'esurvival of the species,and what are the selectivepressures acting uponit?) (seeTinbergen, 1951, 1959; Hinde, 1959b). Somebasic proceduresare essentialin an ethologicalstudy (Hinde, 1959b: 564). The first step is to describeand classifyall the behavior of an animal, at the same time, if possible,dividing the behavior into logicalunits which can be dealt with furtherin other disciplines--particu- larly physiologyand ecology(see Russellet al., 1954). Althoughstudies often beginqualitatively, they eventuallyshould be quantified. Generali- zations,which are to be valid for many species,must be basedon work using closelyrelated speciesfirst, and more distantly related ones later. The animal is studied as an integrated whole. Some workers, notably Konrad Lorenz, keep and breed animalsin captivity under closescrutiny. Most of this paper dealswith communicationof birds. We have stressed particularly the analysisof displays,their evolution,and their relation to taxonomy--topicsof great interest to systematicornithologists as well as to ethologists.In addition, we discusscertain maintenanceactivities. LITERATURE OF ET•OLOC¾ Much of the early ethologicalliterature appearedin Europeanpublications, but it is now also appearingin this country frequently. The principal journalsare: Animal Behavioar (formerly British Journal of Animal Behaviour), Symposiumof the ZoologicalSociety of London,Journal of Comparativeand PhysiologicalPsychology, Zeitschrlftfiir Tierpsychologie,and Behaviour(with monographsappearing as supple- ments in the last two). Papers on avian ethology also appear frequently in the major ornithologicaljournals. Standardreference books on ethologyare The study of instinct (Tinbergen,1951), Learning and instinct in animals (Thorpe, 1963), and Social behaviorand organizationamong vertebrates(Etkin, 1964). Recent monographson individual speciesinclude those by Marler (1956a) on the Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs);Hinde (1952), Great Tit (Parus major); Tinbergen • Written at the request of the A.O.U. Committee on Research. 637 The Auk, 83: 637-661. October, 1966 638 FI(2KENAND FICKEN, Avian Field EthoIogy [ Vol.Auk 83 (1953), Herring Gull (Larus argentatus); Moynihan (1955b), Black-headed Gull (L. ridibundus); Curio (1959a), Pied Flycatcher (Muscicapa hypoleuca); Simmons (1955), Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus); and Immelmann (1959), Zebra Finch ( Taeniopygia castanotis). Some outstanding examples of comparative ethological studies are those by Lorenz (1952) on dabbling ducks, Meyerriecks (1960) on herons, Tinbergen (1959) and Moynihan (1955b, 1956, 1958a, b, 1959, 1962) on gulls, Andrew (1957a, b) on em- berizine finches and (1961a) other passerines,Itinde (1955-1956) on carduelines, Dilger (1960) on parrots (Agapornis), McKinney (1961) on eiders (Somateria), Curio (1959b) on flycatchers (Muscicapa), and L•ihrl (1960-1961) on nuthatches ( Sitta) . ETHOLOGICAL CONCEPTS Sincethere are severalrecent reviews of ethology (Emlen, 1955; Thorpe, 1963; Hinde, 1959b, 1961; Eibl-Eibesfeldtand Kramer, 1958), we shall discussonly a few critical conceptsand terms of particular interest to field students.Many of the theoreticalconcepts are still controversialand will undoubtedlybe modified substantiallyin the future. The glosseries of Verplanck (1957) and ThOrpe (1951) contain many definitionsof ethologicalterms. Someactions of animalsare variable, othersmore stereotyped,and the two kinds often occur togetherin a behavioralsequence. "The variable introductoryphase of an instinctivebehaviour pattern or sequence"is calledappetitive behavior and the act terminatinga behaviorpattern or sequenceis the consummatoryact (Thorpe, 1951). Tinbergen (1951: 106) givesan exampleof a sequencein which a PeregrineFalcon (Falco peregrinus)searching for food beginsby randomlyroaming over its hunt- ing territory. This appetitive behaviorcontinues until a stimulussituation is encountered(e.g., a flock of teal executing fligh't maneuvers). Such situations may cause the falcon to abandon its random searching,but what follows is still appetitive behavior of a more specializedkind--the flock of teal may releasesham attacks by the falcon, resulting in the isola- tion of a member of the flock. The final stoop, capture, kill, plucking, and eating form a relatively simpleand stereotyped"chain of consumma- tory acts." Stereotypedmovements, many of which serve as consummatoryacts, have been termedfixed patternsor fixed action patterns (Thorpe, 1956). Investigationof such patterns led to the modern conceptsof instinctual behavior. Instinct as exemplifiedby these actions is a stereotypedpat- tern of behaviorwhich is inherited and specific (Hinde, 1959b). In addition, instinctualbehavior may be characterizedby the accumu- lation of reaction specificenergy (now often referred to as specificaction potential or S.A.P.) which is defined by Thorpe (1951) as "the state of the animal responsiblefor its readinessto perform the behaviourpatterns 190•t•] F•½•:E•^•) F•½•:•,Arian Field JEthology 639 of oneinstinct in preferenceto all otherbehaviour patterns." He points out that this specificreadiness "diminishes or disappearswhen the con- summatoryact of the chargedinstinct h'as been performed."However, if the actionis not released,the S.A.P. accumulates.The thresholdfor releaseof the particular act is then loweredand the action may occur without any externalstimulus. Such action is often called a vacuum activity,overflow activity, or "Leerlaufreaktion"(Lorenz, 1950; Thorpe, 1956). Lorenzobserved this in a captiveStarling (Sturnus vulgaris) whichrepeatedly performed all the behaviorpatterns of insecthunting, catching,killing, and swallowing,without any discerniblestimulus (Tin- bergen,1951: 61). Lorenzpostulated a mechanismwhich would prevent the occurrenceof an act before the animal encounteredthe specific en- vironmental stimuli. This "block" has been termed the innate releasing mechanism(I.R.M. or, more recently,R.M.) (Lorenz, 1950; Thorpe, 1956). The I.R.M. is "selectivelyresponsive to a specialstimulus situa- tion"(Tinbergen and Perdeck, 1951: 2). Thisconcept was introduced to accountfor the factsthat animalsoften respondto a particularstimulus situationwith specificresponses even though they have never encountered the situationbefore, and that, in suchcases, the animaloften responds to only a very limited part of the total stimulussituation. Releasers are structures or actions that emanate sign stimuli which are perceivedby an animal. Releasersoften reach a high degreeof specialization,and their evolutionmay parallel that of the associated specificresponse (Lorenz, 1935). Tinbergen (1953: 197), using models, showedthat in Herring Gulls the red spot on the parent's bill is the primary releaser of the pecking responseof the chick. Neither the back- groundcolor of the bill or head color are releasers;in fact, the presence of the head is not even necessary. Although most of the examples of releasersand their sign stimuli are derived from experimentalstudies of visual stimuli, the conceptsare also applicableto olfactory, auditory, and tactile ones (see Lorenz, 1950). Supernormalsti•nuli are those that are even more effective than the natural stimuli; for example, Tinbergen (1951: 43) foundthat oystercatchersprefer a clutchof five eggsto a natural clutch of three and an abnormally large egg to one of their own. Drive has been defined by Thorpe (1951) as "the complexof internal and external statesand stimuli leading to a given behaviour." Thus, this term may includethe stimuli, specificaction potential, and innate releas- ing mechanismsinvolved in a given behavioralact. Becauseof the dif- ficulties of determining internal states without experimentation, the term tendencyhas been used recently to indicate"the readinessto showa par- ticular type of behaviouras observedunder natural conditions"(Hinde, 1955-1956,as givenby Marler, 1956a: 5). Causalfactors include both 640 F•½izE3r^•DFmizE3r, Arian Field Ethology [ Vol.Auk 83 externaland internal stimuli leadingto a givenbehavior (Tinbergen, 1959: 29) and thus causationis approximatelysynonymous with the term drive or motivation. Displacementactivity has been used in two ways. It sometimesmeans behaviorwhich is thought to have been activated by one or more drives which are not the drives normally associatedwith it. In other use it refers to the performanceof a behaviorpattern out of the contextof behavior with which it is normally related (Thorpe, 1951). The first definitionis highly controversial(see lersel and Bol, 1958; Rowell, 1961; Sevenster,1961); the secondis more useful for the field observer.One exampleof displacementactivity is that of fighting Great Tits which "may suddenlystart to peck at a bud or pick up leavesand then throw them over their shoulders--activitiesnormally
Load more

Recommended publications
  • 1 a SHORT BIBLIOGRAPHY in ZOOSEMIOTICS Abram, David
    A SHORT BIBLIOGRAPHY IN ZOOSEMIOTICS Abram, David 1997. The Spell of the Sensuous. New York: Random House. Abram, David 2010. Becoming Animal: An Earthly Cosmology. New York: Pantheon Books. Ackerman, Diane 1991. A Natural History of the Senses. New York: Vintage Books. Argyle, Michael 1988. Bodily Communication. New York: Methuen. Barbieri, Marcello 2003. The Organic Codes. An Introduction to Semantic Biology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Bateson, Gregory 1972. Steps to an Ecology of Mind. New York: Ballantine. Bekoff, Marc 2007. The Emotional Lives of Animals. Novato, Canada: New World Library. Bekoff, Marc 2008. Animals at Play. Rules of the Game. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. Bekoff, Marc; Pierce, Jessica 2009. Wild Justice: The Moral Lives of Animals. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. Böll, Mette Miriam Rakel 2008. Social is emotional. Biosemiotics 1: 329–345. Bouissac, Paul 2010. Semiotics at the Circus. Semiotics, Communication and Cognition 3. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. Bradbury, Jack W.; Vehrencamp, Sandra L. 2011. Principles of Animal Communication, 2nd Ed. Sunderland: Sinauer. Brock, Friedrich 1939. Typenlehre und Umweltforschung: Grundlegung einer idealistischen Biologie (= Bios vol. 9). Leipzig: Verlag von Johann Ambrosium Barth. Buchanan, Brett 2008. Onto-ethologies: The Animal Environments of Uexküll, Heidegger, Merleau, and Deleuze. New York: SUNY Press. Burghardt, Gordon M. 2008. Updating von Uexküll: New directions in communication research. Journal of Comparative Psychology 122, 332–334. Carmeli, Yoram S. 2003. On human-to-animal communication: Biosemiotics and folk perceptions in zoos and circuses. Semiotica 146(3/4): 51–68. Chang, Han-liang 2003. Notes towards a semiotics of parasitism. Sign Systems Studies 31.2: 421–439.
    [Show full text]
  • Proceedings of the 2010 European Veterinary Behaviour Meeting
    proceedings of the 2010 European Veterinary Behaviour Meeting Hamburg, Germany 24–26 September 2010 proceedings of the 2010 European Veterinary Behaviour Meeting Hamburg, Germany 24–26 September 2010 incorporating 16th Annual Congress of the European Society of Veterinary Clinical Ethology (ESVCE) 7th Annual Congress of the European College of Veterinary Behavioural Medicine – Companion Animals (ECVBM-CA) Annual Conference of the German Society of Veterinary Behavioural Medicine and Therapy (GTVMT) This collection of papers was first presented at the 2010 European Veterinary Behaviour Meeting comprising the 16th Annual Congress of The European Society of Veterinary Clinical Ethology (ESVCE), the 7th Annual Congress of The European College of Veterinary Behavioural Medicine – Companion Animals (ECVBM-CA) and the Annual Conference of the German Society of Veterinary Behavioural Medicine and Therapy (GTVMT). The meeting took place in Hamburg, Germany from 24–26 September 2010 and was hosted by the GTVMT in conjunction with ESVCE and ECVBM-CA. The organisers would like to express their gratitude to all of the sponsors who helped to make the event possible. Published in the United Kingdom by: ESVCE Oostveldkouter 222 B-9920 Lovendegem Belgium © 2010 ESVCE All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the copyright owner. The content of individual papers and posters represent the work and ideas of the author(s) and are not necessarily endorsed by the organising committee or contributing organisations. First published 2010 isbn 978-0-9545923-5-6 Sponsors Premium sponsor CEVA Santé Animale Main sponsors Intervet Schering-Plough Animal Health Nestlé PURINA ROYAL CANIN Tiernahrung GmbH and Co.
    [Show full text]
  • Effects of Variation in Hunger Levels on Begging Behavior of Nestlings
    Eastern Kentucky University Encompass Online Theses and Dissertations Student Scholarship January 2013 Effects of Variation in Hunger Levels on Begging Behavior of Nestlings and the Provsioning Behavior of Male and Female Eastern Phoebes Christopher Adam Heist Eastern Kentucky University Follow this and additional works at: https://encompass.eku.edu/etd Part of the Ornithology Commons Recommended Citation Heist, Christopher Adam, "Effects of Variation in Hunger Levels on Begging Behavior of Nestlings and the Provsioning Behavior of Male and Female Eastern Phoebes" (2013). Online Theses and Dissertations. 177. https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/177 This Open Access Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Scholarship at Encompass. It has been accepted for inclusion in Online Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Encompass. For more information, please contact [email protected]. EFFECTS OF VARIATION IN HUNGER LEVELS ON BEGGING BEHAVIOR OF NESTLINGS AND THE PROVISIONING BEHAVIOR OF MALE AND FEMALE EASTERN PHOEBES By Christopher Adam Heist Bachelor of Science Bowling Green State University Bowling Green, Ohio 2010 Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Eastern Kentucky University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE December, 2013 Copyright © Christopher Adam Heist, 2013 All rights reserved ii DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to Rebecca. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my advisor, Dr. Gary Ritchison, for his time, advice, and assistance, both in the field and in preparing this thesis. I would also like to thank my committee members, Dr. Charles Elliott and Dr. Paul Cupp, for their assistance during my tenure at EKU, as well as the Blue Grass Army Depot for access to the field site.
    [Show full text]
  • Living with Animals Conference Co-Organized by Robert W. Mitchell, Radhika N
    Living with Animals Conference Co-organized by Robert W. Mitchell, Radhika N. Makecha, & Michał Piotr Pręgowski Eastern Kentucky University, 19-21 March 2015 Cover design: Kasey L. Morris Conference overview Each day begins with a keynote speaker, and follows with two tracks (in separate locations) that will run concurrently. Breakfast foods and coffee/tea/water will be available prior to the morning keynotes. Coffee breaks (i.e., snacks and coffee/tea/water) are scheduled between sequential groups of talks. Thus, for example, if one session is from 9:05-10:15, and the next session is 10:40-11:40, there is a coffee break from 10:15-10:40. Drinks and edibles should be visible at or near the entry to the rooms where talks are held. Book display: Throughout the conference in Library Room 201, there is a book display. Several university presses have generously provided books for your perusal (as well as order sheets), and some conference participants will be displaying their books as well. Thursday features the “Living with Horses” sessions, as well as concurrent sessions, and has an optional (pre-paid) trip to Berea for shopping and dinner at the Historic Boone Tavern Restaurant. Friday features the “Teaching with Animals” sessions throughout the morning and early afternoon (which includes a boxed lunch during panel discussions and a movie showing and discussion); “Living with Animals” sessions continuing in the late afternoon, and a Conference Dinner at Masala Indian restaurant. Saturday includes “Living with Animals” sessions throughout the day and Poster Presentations during a buffet lunch. In addition, there is the optional trip to the White Hall State Historic Site (you pay when you arrive at the site).
    [Show full text]
  • Animal Conflict "1,
    ANIMAL CONFLICT "1, ...... '", .. r.", . r ",~ Illustrated by Leslie M. Downie Department of Zoology, University of Glasgow ANIMAL CONFLICT Felicity A. Huntingford and Angela K. Turner Department of Zoology, University of Glasgow .-~ ' ..... '. .->, I , f . ~ :"fI London New York CHAPMAN AND HALL Chapman and Hall Animal Behaviour Series SERIES EDITORS D.M. Broom Colleen Macleod Professor of Animal Welfare, University of Cambridge, UK P.W. Colgan Professor of Biology, Queen's University, Canada Detailed studies of behaviour are important in many areas of physiology, psychology, zoology and agriculture. Each volume in this series will provide a concise and readable account of a topic of fundamental importance and current interest in animal behaviour, at a level appropriate for senior under­ graduates and research workers. Many facets of the study ofanimal behaviour will be explored and the topics included will reflect the broad scope of the subject. The major areas to be covered will range from behavioural ecology and sociobiology to general behavioural mechanisms and physiological psychology. Each volume will provide a rigorous and balanced view of the subject although authors will be given the freedom to develop material in their own way. To Tim) Joan and Jessica) with thanks) and to all the children who provided inspiration First published in 1987 by Chapmatl and Hall Ltd 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE Published in the USA by Chapman atld Hall 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001 © 1987 Felicity A. Huntingford and Angela K. Turner Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1987 ISBN -13: 978-94-010-9008-7 This title is available in both hardbound and paperback editions.
    [Show full text]
  • NELLY MÄEKIVI the Zoological Garden As a Hybrid Environment – a (Zoo)Semiotic Analysis
    NELLY MÄEKIVINELLY DISSERTATIONES SEMIOTICAE UNIVERSITATIS TARTUENSIS 29 The Zoological Garden as a Hybrid Environment – A (Zoo)semiotic Analysis Environment Garden as a Hybrid – A (Zoo)semiotic Zoological The NELLY MÄEKIVI The Zoological Garden as a Hybrid Environment – A (Zoo)semiotic Analysis Tartu 2018 1 ISSN 1406-6033 ISBN 978-9949-77-893-5 DISSERTATIONES SEMIOTICAE UNIVERSITATIS TARTUENSIS 29 DISSERTATIONES SEMIOTICAE UNIVERSITATIS TARTUENSIS 29 NELLY MÄEKIVI The Zoological Garden as a Hybrid Environment – A (Zoo)semiotic Analysis Department of Semiotics, Institute of Philosophy and Semiotics, University of Tartu, Estonia The council of the Institute of Philosophy and Semiotics of the University of Tartu has on October 8, 2018 accepted this dissertation for defence for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (in Semiotics and Culture Studies). Supervisor: Timo Maran, Senior Research Fellow, Head of Department of Semiotics, University of Tartu Opponents: Paul Cobley, Professor of Middlesex University, Great Britain Dario Martinelli, Professor of Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania The thesis will be defended at the University of Tartu, Estonia, on December 3rd, 2018, at 12:15 in University of Tartu Council Hall, Ülikooli 18 This research was supported by the Centre of Excellence in Cultural Theory (European Regional Development Fund); the Graduate School of Culture Studies and Arts (European Social Fund); European Social Fund’s Doctoral Studies and Internationalisation Programme DoRa (carried out by Foundation Archimedes); Estonian Research Council’s institutional research project IUT2-44; Estonian Science Foundation Research grant ETF7790 “Dynamical Zoo- semiotics and Animal Representations”; Estonian Science Foundation Research grant ETF8403 “Animals in changing environments: Cultural mediation and semiotic analysis” (EEA Norway Grants EMP 151); Personal Research Funding project PUT1363 “Semiotics of multispecies environments: agencies, meaning making and communication conflicts”.
    [Show full text]
  • Effects of Predictability on the Welfare of Captive Animals§ Lois Bassett, Hannah M
    Applied Animal Behaviour Science 102 (2007) 223–245 www.elsevier.com/locate/applanim Effects of predictability on the welfare of captive animals§ Lois Bassett, Hannah M. Buchanan-Smith * Scottish Primate Research Group, Department of Psychology, University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA, Scotland, United Kingdom Available online 30 June 2006 Abstract Variations in the predictability of a stressor have pronounced effects on the behavioural and physio- logical effects of stress in rats. It is reasonable to expect that variations in the predictability of husbandry routines thought to be aversive to animals might have similar effects on stress indices. Similarly, variations in the predictability of positive events, of which feeding is an obvious example, may affect welfare. This review examines the behavioural and physiological effects of the predictability of aversive and appetitive stimuli, and the application of experimental findings to animal husbandry in practice. It is argued here that two distinct but overlapping types of predictability exist. ‘Temporal’ predictability describes whether an event occurs at fixed or variable intervals, whereas ‘signalled’ predictability relates to the reliability of a signal preceding the event. This review examines the effects of each of these types of predictability in relation to positively and negatively perceived events, and examines the link between predictability and control. Recommendations are made for relatively simple and inexpensive modifications to husbandry routines that may be easy to incorporate into the schedules of busy staff yet could have a profound impact on the welfare of animals in their care. # 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Animal welfare; Control; Husbandry routines; Signalled predictability; Temporal predictability 1.
    [Show full text]
  • Social Dominance: a Behavioral Mechanism for Resource Allocation in Crayfish
    SOCIAL DOMINANCE: A BEHAVIORAL MECHANISM FOR RESOURCE ALLOCATION IN CRAYFISH Kandice Christine Fero A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY August 2008 Committee: Paul Moore, Advisor Verner Bingman Graduate Faculty Representative Sheryl Coombs Rex Lowe Steve Vessey ii ABSTRACT Paul Moore, Advisor Social dominance is often equated with priority of access to resources and higher relative fitness. But the consequences of dominance are not always readily advantageous for an individual and therefore, testing of such assumptions is needed in order to appropriately characterize mechanisms of resource competition in animal systems. This dissertation examined the ecological consequences of dominance in crayfish. Specifically, the following questions were addressed: is resource allocation determined by dominance and how does the structure of resources in an environment affect dominance relationships? By examining the mechanism of how dominance may allocate resources in groups of crayfish, we can begin to answer questions concerning what environmental selective pressures are shaping social behavior in this system. Shelter acquisition and use was examined in a combination of natural, semi-natural, and laboratory studies in order to observe dominance relationships under ecologically relevant conditions. The work presented here shows that: (1) social status has persisting behavioral consequences with regard to shelter use, which are modulated by social context; (2) dominance relationships influence the spatial distribution of crayfish in natural environments such that dominant individuals possess access to more space; (3) resource use strategies differ depending on social history and these strategies may influence larger scale segregation across habitats; and finally, (4) shelter distribution modulates the extent to which social history and shelter ownership influence the formation of subsequent dominance relationships.
    [Show full text]
  • What Can Vigilance Tell Us About Fear?
    Beauchamp, Guy (2017) What can vigilance tell us about fear?. Animal Sentience 15(1) DOI: 10.51291/2377-7478.1203 This article has appeared in the journal Animal Sentience, a peer-reviewed journal on animal cognition and feeling. It has been made open access, free for all, by WellBeing International and deposited in the WBI Studies Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Animal Sentience 2017.015: Beauchamp on Fear & Vigilance Call for Commentary: Animal Sentience publishes Open Peer Commentary on all accepted target articles. Target articles are peer-reviewed. Commentaries are editorially reviewed. There are submitted commentaries as well as invited commentaries. Commentaries appear as soon as they have been reviewed, revised and accepted. Target article authors may respond to their commentaries individually or in a joint response to multiple commentaries. Instructions: http://animalstudiesrepository.org/animsent/guidelines.html What can vigilance tell us about fear? Guy Beauchamp Independent Researcher, Canada Abstract: Animal vigilance is concerned with the monitoring of potential threats caused by predators and conspecifics. Researchers have argued that threats are part of a landscape of fear tracking the level of risk posed by predators and conspecifics. Vigilance, which is expected to vary with the level of risk, could thus be used as a measure of fear. Here, I explore the relationship between vigilance and fear caused by predators and conspecifics. The joint occurrence of vigilance and other physiological responses to fear, such as increased heart rate and stress hormone release, would bolster the idea that vigilance can be a useful marker of fear. While there is some support for a positive relationship between vigilance and physiological correlates of fear, a common theme in much of the empirical research is that vigilance and physiological correlates of fear are often uncoupled.
    [Show full text]
  • Aggressive Behavior in the Genus Gallus Sp1
    Brazilian Journal of Poultry Science Revista Brasileira de Ciência Avícola ISSN 1516-635X Jan - Mar 2006 / v.8 / n.1 / 01 - 14 Aggressive behavior in the genus Gallus sp1 Author(s) ABSTRACT Queiroz SA2 The intensification of the production system in the poultry industry Cromberg VU3 and the vertical integration of the poultry agribusiness have brought 1 Funded by Associação de Criadores e de profound changes in the physical and social environment of domestic Preservação das Raças de Galos Combatentes. fowls in comparison to their ancestors and have modified the expression 2 Departamento de Zootecnia, Faculdade de of aggression and submission. The present review has covered the Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias de studies focusing on the different aspects linked to aggressiveness in Jaboticabal, Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP) the genus Gallus. The evaluated studies have shown that aggressiveness 3 ETCO Grupo de Estudos e Pesquisa em and subordination are complex behavioral expressions that involve Etologia e Ecologia - UNESP/FCAV genetic differences between breeds, strains and individuals, and differences in the cerebral development during growth, in the hormonal metabolism, in the rearing conditions of individuals, including feed restriction, density, housing type (litter or cage), influence of the opposite Mail Address sex during the growth period, existence of hostile stimuli (pain and Sandra Aidar de Queiroz frustration), ability to recognize individuals and social learning. The Departamento de Zootecnia utilization of fighting birds as experimental material in the study of Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias de Jaboticabal - UNESP mechanisms that have influence on the manifestation of aggressiveness Via de acesso Prof. Paulo D.
    [Show full text]
  • The Scope of Neuroethology
    THE BEHAVIORAL AND BRAIN SCIENCES (1984) 7, 367-412 Printed in the United States of America The scope of neuroethology Graham Hoyle Institute of Neuroscience, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oreg. 97403 Abstract: Neuroethology, an interdisciplinary subdivision of neuroscience, has emerged in recent years. Since 1976 there has been a regular session under this heading at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience. In 1980 two introductory texts in English were published on the subject (Ewert 1980; Guthrie 1980), and a third (Camhi 1984) was published recently. There is widespread interest in neural mechanisms underlying behavior, but they encompass such a vast array of often unrelated topics that proponents do not share common goals. This article describes the emergence of ethology as a discipline, pointing out that its practitioners were successful because they confined their research to stereotyped, complex, nonlearned, innate behavioral acts. A limited number of profoundly significant principles emerged. Each of these is redefined. The major concepts of earlier ethology were embodied in a simple hydraulic model used by Konrad Lorenz in 1949 (Lorenz 1950). It is pointed out that this model implies the existence of common neurophysiological mechanisms and neuronal circuitry. This model has now been made obsolete by neurophysiological progress, but with appropriate ~nodificationsan updated version may still be useful in focusing attention on possible principles. The initial aim of neuroethology should be to examine the neurophysiological events in a variety of behaviors, exhibited by diverse animals from different phyla, which meet the criteria of innate behavioral acts. The behaviors should be sufficiently complex to interest ethologists, yet they should be addressable with neurophysiological methods down to the cellular level.
    [Show full text]
  • Redalyc.Introduction (To the Issue and to Zoomusicology)
    Trans. Revista Transcultural de Música E-ISSN: 1697-0101 [email protected] Sociedad de Etnomusicología España Martinelli, Dario Introduction (to the issue and to zoomusicology) Trans. Revista Transcultural de Música, núm. 12, julio, 2008 Sociedad de Etnomusicología Barcelona, España Available in: http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=82201208 How to cite Complete issue Scientific Information System More information about this article Network of Scientific Journals from Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal Journal's homepage in redalyc.org Non-profit academic project, developed under the open access initiative Introduction (to the issue and to zoomusicology) http://www.sibetrans.com/trans/trans12/art08.htm Revista Transcultural de Música Transcultural Music Review #12 (2008) ISSN:1697-0101 Introduction (to the issue and to zoomusicology) Dario Martinelli The release of this special issue of TRANS on zoomusicology marks a little historical event. Indeed, this is the very first time in musicological history that a scientific journal decides to devote an entire issue to the topic of animal music. In several cases, a few of which I had the honour to represent, zoomusicological essays have been published and discussed within wider contexts, such as conference proceedings, regular – i.e. non-thematic – issues of various journals, essay compilations, and even special – i.e. thematic – issues of journals (e.g., focusing on things like “new trends in musicology”). However, never was zoomusicology the topic, the actual focus of one particular issue. This means very much to me and, in this introduction to the issue, I shall take the liberty to 12 explain why. I became interested in zoomusicology in 1996, while in search for a topic for my master dissertation in musicology.
    [Show full text]