Date of Award
2009
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science
Program
Biology
Supervisor
Scott MacDougall-Shackleton
Second Advisor
Dr. David Sherry
Third Advisor
Dr. Bryan Neff
Abstract
Behavioural syndromes are consistent individual behavioural tendencies across varying situations. Although behavioural syndromes studies are becoming more common, few draw connections to social dominance. Black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapillus) flock in winter, and dominance hierarchies are critical to their survival. To determine the relationship between social rank, neophobia and observational learning in chickadees, we measured individual reactions to novelty and individual differences in foraging-task learning ability. Latencies to approach different novel stimuli were correlated within individuals. Social rank was related to individual reactions to novelty but not to foraging- task learning ability. Lower ranking individuals were less neophobic, consistent with their dominance hierarchy characteristics in which the dominants control preferential access to resources and limit the subordinates to forage in riskier environments. Further work is required to determine the causal relationship between neophobia and social rank.
Recommended Citation
An, Yong Seok, "THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOCIAL RANK, NEOPHOBIA, AND OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING IN BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEES" (2009). Digitized Theses. 3959.
https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/digitizedtheses/3959