NDLI: Proximate mechanisms of detecting nut properties in a wild population of Mexican Jays (Aphelocoma ultramarina)

Content Provider	Springer Nature Link
Author	Jablonski, Piotr G. Lee, Sang im Fuszara, Elzbieta Fuszara, Maciej Jeong, Choongwon Lee, Won Young
Copyright Year	2015
Abstract	In contrast to extensive research on optimal foraging in birds, the proximate mechanisms by which birds estimate the properties of nuts or seeds have not been well studied. Using slow-motion video-recording and experiments with modified peanuts presented to birds in their natural habitat, we explored these issues in a wild population of the Mexican Jay (Aphelocoma ultramarina). Jays evaluated each peanut by performing fast movements of the head combined with additional fast movements of the beak, which may open and subsequently close producing sound at the moment of hitting the shell. These movements seemed to provide Jays with additional sensory information that led to a more strict discrimination against non-preferred peanuts. We presented Jays with two types of peanuts that looked similar but differed in weight and found that, after handling the nuts, Jays consistently preferred the heavier nuts. In another experiment, the visually larger nuts with atypically lower mass (due to experimental alteration) were picked up easily but subsequently were rejected during handling, while the smaller peanuts with the weight typical for the size were easily accepted leading to the preferences for nuts with higher nutmeat density. This indicates that birds may have a concept of how much a nut of a given size should weigh, or alternatively that simple correlation between density of nut content and the properties of sound produced during handling lead to the ability of choosing denser nuts. We discuss further experimental studies that may bring more understanding of the proximate mechanisms of nut content assessment by birds.
Starting Page	163
Ending Page	172
Page Count	10
File Format	PDF
ISSN	21937192
Journal	Journal für Ornithologie
Volume Number	156
Issue Number	1
e-ISSN	21937206
Language	English
Publisher	Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Publisher Date	2015-03-12
Publisher Place	Berlin, Heidelberg
Access Restriction	Subscribed
Subject Keyword	Mexican Jay Corvidae Heaviness Proximate mechanisms Nuts Foraging Food preferences Zoology Ecology Fish & Wildlife Biology & Management
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article

Sl.	Authority	Responsibilities	Communication Details
1	Ministry of Education (GoI), Department of Higher Education	Sanctioning Authority	https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives
2	Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	Host Institute of the Project: The host institute of the project is responsible for providing infrastructure support and hosting the project	https://www.iitkgp.ac.in
3	National Digital Library of India Office, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	The administrative and infrastructural headquarters of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in
4	Project PI / Joint PI	Principal Investigator and Joint Principal Investigators of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in Prof. Saswat Chakrabarti will be added soon
5	Website/Portal (Helpdesk)	Queries regarding NDLI and its services	support@ndl.gov.in
6	Contents and Copyright Issues	Queries related to content curation and copyright issues	content@ndl.gov.in
7	National Digital Library of India Club (NDLI Club)	Queries related to NDLI Club formation, support, user awareness program, seminar/symposium, collaboration, social media, promotion, and outreach	clubsupport@ndl.gov.in
8	Digital Preservation Centre (DPC)	Assistance with digitizing and archiving copyright-free printed books	dpc@ndl.gov.in
9	IDR Setup or Support	Queries related to establishment and support of Institutional Digital Repository (IDR) and IDR workshops	idr@ndl.gov.in