Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-v2bm5 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-09T22:31:43.616Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

22 - Social Learning in Birds

from Part IV - Social Learning and Teaching

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2021

By
Victoria E. Lee ,
Alison L. Greggor  and
Alex Thornton
Edited by
Allison B. Kaufman ,
Josep Call  and
James C. Kaufman
Allison B. Kaufman
Affiliation:
University of Connecticut
Josep Call
Affiliation:
University of St Andrews, Scotland
James C. Kaufman
Affiliation:
University of Connecticut
Get access

Summary

Birds have contributed a great deal to our understanding of social learning. In this chapter we briefly review this extensive body of research, describing the contexts in which birds use social information to make behavioral decisions. We discuss the ecological factors that promote social learning, and the mechanisms by which social learning occurs. We consider individual differences in social learning, focusing on how learning strategies and biases influence when, how and from whom birds will learn. We examine the consequences of social learning for evolutionary processes, from the emergence of culture to speciation and adaptation to environmental change. Finally, we highlight how knowledge of social learning processes can be applied in the conservation and management of threatened bird species.

Keywords

social learning strategiessocial cognitionlearning biasculturebirdsconservation
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Animal Cognition , pp. 503 - 533
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Akins, C. K. & Zentall, T. R. (1996). Imitative learning in male Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) using the two-action method. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 110(3), 316–320. https://doi.org/10.1037/0735-7036.110.3.316Google Scholar
Apfelbeck, B. & Raess, M. (2008). Behavioural and hormonal effects of social isolation and neophobia in a gregarious bird species, the European starling (Sturnus vulgaris). Hormones and Behavior, 54(3), 435–441. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2008.04.003Google Scholar
Aplin, L. M. (2018). Culture and cultural evolution in birds: A review of the evidence. Animal Behaviour. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2018.05.001Google Scholar
Aplin, L. M., Farine, D. R., Morand-Ferron, J., & Sheldon, B. C. (2012). Social networks predict patch discovery in a wild population of songbirds. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 279(1745), 4199–4205. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2012.1591Google Scholar
Aplin, L. M., Sheldon, B. C., & Morand-Ferron, J. (2013). Milk bottles revisited: Social learning and individual variation in the blue tit, Cyanistes caeruleus. Animal Behaviour, 85(6), 1225–1232. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2013.03.009Google Scholar
Aplin, L. M., Farine, D. R., Morand-Ferron, J., Cockburn, A., Thornton, A., & Sheldon, B. C. (2015). Experimentally induced innovations lead to persistent culture via conformity in wild birds. Nature, 518(7540), 538–541. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13998CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Aplin, L. M., Sheldon, B. C., & McElreath, R. (2017). Conformity does not perpetuate suboptimal traditions in a wild population of songbirds. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 114(30), 7830–7837. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1621067114Google Scholar
Auersperg, A. M. I., von Bayern, A. M. I., Weber, S., Szabadvari, A., Bugnyar, T., & Kacelnik, A. (2014). Social transmission of tool use and tool manufacture in Goffin cockatoos (Cacatua goffini). Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 281(1793), 20140972. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2014.0972Google Scholar
Barrowclough, G. F., Cracraft, J., Klicka, J., & Zink, R. M. (2016). How many kinds of birds are there and why does it matter? PLoS One, 11(11), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0166307Google Scholar
Beauchamp, G. & Kacelnik, A. (1991). Effects of the knowledge of partners on learning rates in zebra finches Taeniopygia guttata. Animal Behaviour, 41(2), 247–253. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0003-3472(05)80476-2Google Scholar
Beecher, M. D. (2017). Birdsong learning as a social process. Animal Behaviour, 124, 233–246. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2016.09.001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beecher, M. D., Campbell, S. E., & Nordby, J. C. (2000). Territory tenure in song sparrows is related to song sharing with neighbours, but not to repertoire size. Animal Behaviour, 59(1), 29–37. https://doi.org/10.1006/anbe.1999.1304Google Scholar
Beecher, M. D. & Brenowitz, E. A. (2005). Functional aspects of song learning in songbirds. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 20(3), 143–149. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2005.01.004CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Beecher, M. D., Burt, J. M., O’Loghlen, A. L., Templeton, C. N., & Campbell, S. E. (2007). Bird song learning in an eavesdropping context. Animal Behaviour, 73(6), 929–935. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2006.10.013Google Scholar
Berger-Tal, O., Blumstein, D. T., Carroll, S., Fisher, R. N., Mesnick, S. L., Owen, M. A., Saltz, D., St Claire, C. C., & Swaisgood, R. R. (2015). A systematic survey of the integration of behavior into wildlife conservation and management. Conservation Biology, 30(4), 744–753. https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.12654Google Scholar
Bolhuis, J. J., Okanoya, K., & Scharff, C. (2010). Twitter evolution: Converging mechanisms in birdsong and human speech. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 11(11), 747–759. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn2931Google Scholar
Boogert, N. J., Zimmer, C., & Spencer, K. A. (2013). Pre- and post-natal stress have opposing effects on social information use. Biology Letters, 9, 20121088. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2012.1088Google Scholar
Bouchard, J., Goodyer, W., & Lefebvre, L. (2007). Social learning and innovation are positively correlated in pigeons (Columba livia). Animal Cognition, 10(2), 259–266. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-006-0064-1CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Boyd, R. & Richerson, P. J. (1985). Culture and the Evolutionary Process. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Boyd, R. & Richerson, P. J. (1988). An Evolutionary Model of Social Learning: The Effects of Spatial and Temporal Variation. In Zentall, T. & Galef, B. G. (Eds.), Social Learning: A Psychological and Biological Approach (pp. 29–48). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Boyd, R. & Richerson, P. J. (1995). Why culture is common, but cultural evolution is rare. Proceedings of the British Academy, 88, 77–93. https://doi.org/citeulike-article-id:1339814Google Scholar
Bradbury, J. W. & Balsby, T. J. S. (2016). The functions of vocal learning in parrots. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 70(3), 293–312. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-016-2068-4Google Scholar
Brainard, M. S. & Doupe, A. J. (2002). What songbirds teach us about learning. Nature, 417(6886), 351–358. https://doi.org/10.1038/417351aGoogle Scholar
Brakes, P., Dall, S. R. X., Aplin, L. M., Bearhop, S., Carroll, E. L., Ciucci, P., … Rutz, C. (2019). Animal cultures matter for conservation. Science, 363(6431), 1032–1034. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaw3557Google Scholar
Brown, G. E., Ferrari, M. C. O., Elvidge, C. K., Ramnarine, I., & Chivers, D. P. (2013). Phenotypically plastic neophobia: A response to variable predation risk. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 280(1756), 20122712. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2012.2712Google Scholar
Caldwell, C. A. & Whiten, A. (2003). Scrounging facilitates social learning in common marmosets, Callithrix jacchus. Animal Behaviour, 65(6), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1006/anbe.2003.2145Google Scholar
Campbell, F. M., Heyes, C. M., & Goldsmith, A. R. (1999). Stimulus learning and response learning by observation in the European starling, in a two-object/two-action test. Animal Behaviour, 58(1), 151–158. https://doi.org/10.1006/anbe.1999.1121Google Scholar
Campbell, F. M. & Heyes, C. M. (2002). Rats smell: Odour-mediated local enhancement, in a vertical movement two-action test. Animal Behaviour, 63(6), 1055–1063. https://doi.org/10.1006/anbe.2002.3007Google Scholar
Caro, T. & Hauser, M. D. (1992). Is there teaching in nonhuman animals? Quarterly Review of Biology, 67(2), 151–174.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Catchpole, C. K. & Slater, P. J. B. (2008). Bird Song: Biological Themes and Variations (2nd ed.), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Chen, Y., Matheson, L. E., & Sakata, J. T. (2016). Mechanisms underlying the social enhancement of vocal learning in songbirds. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(24), 6641–6646. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1522306113CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chiarati, E., Canestrari, D., Vera, R., & Baglione, V. (2012). Subordinates benefit from exploratory dominants: Response to novel food in cooperatively breeding carrion crows. Animal Behaviour, 83(1), 103–109. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2011.10.012Google Scholar
Colombelli-Négrel, D., Hauber, M. E., Robertson, J., Sulloway, F. J., Hoi, H., Griggio, M., & Kleindorfer, S. (2012). Embryonic learning of vocal passwords in superb fairy-wrens reveals intruder cuckoo nestlings. Current Biology, 22(22), 2155–2160. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2012.09.025Google Scholar
Conover, M. R. & Perito, J. J. (1981). Response of starlings to distress calls and predator models holding conspecific prey. Zeitschrift Für Tierpsychologie, 57(2), 163–172. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1439-0310.1981.tb01320.xGoogle Scholar
Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (2018). Report of the CMS workshop on conservation implications of animal culture and social complexity. Retrieved from www.cms.int/cami/sites/default/files/document/cms_scc-sc3_inf.8_animal-culture-workshop-2018-report_e.pdfGoogle Scholar
Coolen, I., Dangles, O., & Casas, J. (2005). Social learning in noncolonial insects? Current Biology, 15(21), 1931–1935. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.CUB.2005.09.015Google Scholar
Cornell, H. N., Marzluff, J. M., & Pecoraro, S. (2012). Social learning spreads knowledge about dangerous humans among American crows. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 279(1728), 499–508. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2011.0957Google Scholar
Creanza, N., Fogarty, L., & Feldman, M. W. (2016). Cultural niche construction of repertoire size and learning strategies in songbirds. Evolutionary Ecology, 30(2), 285–305. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10682-015-9796-1Google Scholar
Curio, E., Ernst, U., & Vieth, W. (1978a). Cultural transmission of enemy recognition: One function of mobbing. Science, 202, 899–901. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.202.4370.899Google Scholar
Curio, E., Ernst, U., & Vieth, W. (1978b). The adaptive significance of avian mobbing: II. Cultural transmission of enemy recognition in blackbirds: Effectiveness and some constraints. Zeitschrift Für Tierpsychologie, 48(2), 184–202. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1439-0310.1978.tb00255.xGoogle Scholar
D’Adamo, P., Corley, J., Sackmann, P., & Lozada, M. (2000). Local enhancement in the wasp Vespula germanica: Are visual cues all that matter? Insectes Sociaux, 47(3), 289–291. https://doi.org/10.1007/PL00001717Google Scholar
Dall, S. R. X., Giraldeau, L.-A., Olsson, O., McNamara, J. M., & Stephens, D. W. (2005). Information and its use by animals in evolutionary ecology. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 20(4), 187–193. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2005.01.010CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dalziell, A. H. & Magrath, R. D. (2012). Fooling the experts: Accurate vocal mimicry in the song of the superb lyrebird, Menura novaehollandiae. Animal Behaviour, 83(6), 1401–1410. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2012.03.009Google Scholar
Davies, N. B. & Wellbergen, J. A. (2009). Social transmission of a host defence against cuckoo parasitism. Science, 324, 1318–1320. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1172227Google Scholar
Donaldson, R., Finn, H., Bejder, L., Lusseau, D., & Calver, M. (2012). The social side of human-wildlife interaction: Wildlife can learn harmful behaviours from each other. Animal Conservation, 15(5), 427–435. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-1795.2012.00548.xGoogle Scholar
Eriksen, A., Lampe, H. M., & Slagsvold, T. (2009). Interspecific cross-fostering affects song acquisition but not mate choice in pied flycatchers, Ficedula hypoleuca. Animal Behaviour, 78(4), 857–863. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2009.07.005Google Scholar
Espmark, Y. O. & Lampe, H. M. (1993). Variations in the song of the pied flycatcher within and between breeding seasons. Bioacoustics, 5(1–2), 33–65. https://doi.org/10.1080/09524622.1993.9753229Google Scholar
Farine, D. R., Spencer, K. A., & Boogert, N. J. (2015). Early-life stress triggers juvenile zebra finches to switch social learning strategies. Current Biology, 25(16), 2184–2188. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2015.06.071Google Scholar
Feeney, W. E. & Langmore, N. E. (2013). Social learning of a brood parasite by its host. Biology Letters, 9, 20130443. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2013.0443Google Scholar
Fehér, O., Wang, H., Saar, S., Mitra, P. P., & Tchernichovski, O. (2009). De novo establishment of wild-type song culture in the zebra finch. Nature, 459(7246), 564–568. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature07994Google Scholar
Firth, J. A., Sheldon, B. C., & Farine, D. R. (2016). Pathways of information transmission among wild songbirds follow experimentally imposed changes in social foraging structure. Biology Letters, 12(6), 2016–2019. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2016.0144Google Scholar
Fisher, J. & Hinde, R. A. (1949). The opening of milk bottles by birds. British Birds, 42(347), 347–357. https://doi.org/10.1038/1691006a0Google Scholar
Flower, T. (2011). Fork-tailed drongos use deceptive mimicked alarm calls to steal food. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 278(1711), 1548–1555. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2010.1932Google Scholar
Fritz, J. & Kotrschal, K. (1999). Social learning in common ravens, Corvus corax. Animal Behaviour, 57(4), 785–793. https://doi.org/10.1006/anbe.1998.1035Google Scholar
Fritz, J., Bisenberger, A., & Kotrschal, K. (2000). Stimulus enhancement in greylag geese: Socially mediated learning of an operant task. Animal Behaviour, 59(6), 1119–1125. https://doi.org/10.1006/anbe.2000.1424Google Scholar
Galef, B. G. & White, D. J. (1998). Mate-choice copying in Japanese quail, Coturnix coturnix japonica. Animal Behaviour, 55(3), 545–552. https://doi.org/10.1006/anbe.1997.0616Google Scholar
Galef, B. G. & Whiskin, E. E. (2004). Effects of environmental stability and demonstrator age on social learning of food preferences by young Norway rats. Animal Behaviour, 68(4), 897–902. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2003.10.029Google Scholar
Gil, D. Cobb, J. L. S., & Slater, P. J. B. (2001). Song characteristics are age dependent in the willow warbler, Phylloscopus trochilus. Animal Behaviour, 62(4), 689–694. https://doi.org/10.1006/anbe.2001.1812Google Scholar
Gil, D. & Gahr, M. (2002). The honesty of bird song: Multiple constraints for multiple traits. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 17(3), 133–141. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-5347(02)02410-2Google Scholar
Giraldeau, L.-A., Valone, T. J., & Templeton, J. J. (2002). Potential disadvantages of using socially acquired information. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 357(1427), 1559–1566. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2002.1065Google Scholar
Goodale, E. & Kotagama, S. W. (2006). Context-dependent vocal mimicry in a passerine bird. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 273(1588), 875–880. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2005.3392Google Scholar
Grant, B. R. & Grant, P. R. (2002). Simulating secondary contact in allopatric speciation: An empirical test of premating isolation. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 76(4), 545–556. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1095-8312.2002.00076.xGoogle Scholar
Grant, P. R. & Grant, B. R. (2009). The secondary contact phase of allopatric speciation in Darwin’s finches. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106(48), 20141–20148. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0911761106Google Scholar
Greenberg, R. & Mettke-Hofmann, C. (2001). Ecological Aspects of Neophobia and Neophilia in Birds. In Nolan, V. & Thompson, C. F. (Eds.), Current Ornithology. Boston, MA: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-9921-7Google Scholar
Greggor, A. L., Clayton, N. S., Phalan, B., & Thornton, A. (2014). Comparative cognition for conservationists. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 29(9), 489–495. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2014.06.004Google Scholar
Greggor, A. L., Jolles, J. W., Thornton, A., & Clayton, N. S. (2016). Seasonal changes in neophobia and its consistency in rooks: The effect of novelty type and dominance position. Animal Behaviour, 121, 11–20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2016.08.010Google Scholar
Greggor, A. L., McIvor, G., Clayton, N. S., & Thornton, A. (2016). Contagious risk taking: Social information and context influence wild jackdaws’ responses to novelty and risk. Scientific Reports, 6, 27764. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep27764Google Scholar
Greggor, A. L., Thornton, A., & Clayton, N. S. (2017). Harnessing learning biases is essential for applying social learning in conservation. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 71(1). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-016-2238-4Google Scholar
Griffin, A. S. (2004). Social learning about predators: A review and prospectus. Learning & Behavior, 32(1), 131–140. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03196014CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Griffin, A. S. (2008a). Social learning in Indian mynahs, Acridotheres tristis: The role of distress calls. Animal Behaviour, 75(1), 79–89. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2007.04.008Google Scholar
Griffin, A. S. (2008b). Socially acquired predator avoidance: Is it just classical conditioning? Brain Research Bulletin, 76(3), 264–271. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brainresbull.2008.02.005Google Scholar
Griffin, A. S. & Galef, B. G. (2005). Social learning about predators: Does timing matter? Animal Behaviour, 69(3), 669–678. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2004.05.020Google Scholar
Guillette, L. M., Scott, A. C. Y. Y., & Healy, S. D. (2016). Social learning in nest-building birds: A role for familiarity. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 283(1827), 20152685. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2015.2685Google Scholar
Hansen, B. T., Johannessen, L. E., & Slagsvold, T. (2008). Imprinted species recognition lasts for life in free-living great tits and blue tits. Animal Behaviour, 75(3), 921–927. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2007.07.023Google Scholar
Heinen, V. K. & Stephens, D. W. (2016). Blue jays, Cyanocitta cristata, devalue social information in uncertain environments. Animal Behaviour, 112, 53–62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2015.11.015Google Scholar
Heinrich, B., Marzluff, J. M., & Adams, W. (1995). Fear and food recognition in naive common ravens. The Auk, 112(2), 499–503.Google Scholar
Heyes, C. M. (1994). Social learning in animals: Categories and mechanisms. Biological Reviews, 69(2), 207–231. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-185X.1994.tb01506.xGoogle Scholar
Heyes, C. M. (2012). What’s social about social learning? Journal of Comparative Psychology, 126(2), 193–202. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0025180Google Scholar
Heyes, C. M. (2016). Who knows? Metacognitive social learning strategies. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 20(3), 204–213. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2015.12.007Google Scholar
Heyes, C. M. & Saggerson, A. (2002). Testing for imitative and nonimitative social learning in the budgerigar using a two-object/two-action test. Animal Behaviour, 64, 851–859. https://doi.org/10.1006/anbe.2002.2002Google Scholar
Holzhaider, J. C., Hunt, G. R., & Gray, R. D. (2010). The development of pandanus tool manufacture in wild New Caledonian crows. Behaviour, 147(5), 553–586.Google Scholar
Hoppitt, W. J. E. & Laland, K. N. (2008). Social processes influencing learning in animals: A review of the evidence. Advances in the Study of Behavior, 38, 105–165. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-3454(08)00003-XGoogle Scholar
Hoppitt, W. J. E. & Laland, K. N. (2013). Social Learning: An Introduction to Mechanisms, Methods, and Models. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Horner, V., Proctor, D., Bonnie, K. E., Whiten, A., & de Waal, F. B. M. (2010). Prestige affects cultural learning in chimpanzees. PLoS One, 5(5), e10625. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0010625CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Janik, V. M. & Slater, P. J. B. (2000). The different roles of social learning in vocal communication. Animal Behaviour, 60(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1006/anbe.2000.1410Google Scholar
Johannessen, L. E., Slagsvold, T., & Hansen, B. T. (2006). Effects of social rearing conditions on song structure and repertoire size: Experimental evidence from the field. Animal Behaviour, 72(1), 83–95. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2005.09.019Google Scholar
Jones, T. B., Aplin, L. M., Devost, I., & Morand-Ferron, J. (2017). Individual and ecological determinants of social information transmission in the wild. Animal Behaviour, 129, 93–101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2017.05.011Google Scholar
Katsnelson, E., Motro, U., Feldman, M. W., & Lotem, A. (2008). Early experience affects producer-scrounger foraging tendencies in the house sparrow. Animal Behaviour, 75(4), 1465–1472. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2007.09.020Google Scholar
Katsnelson, E., Motro, U., Feldman, M. W., & Lotem, A. (2011). Individual-learning ability predicts social-foraging strategy in house sparrows. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 278(1705), 582–589. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2010.1151Google Scholar
Kavaliers, M., Colwell, D. D., & Choleris, E. (2005). Kinship, familiarity and social status modulate social learning about “micropredators” (biting flies) in deer mice. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 58(1), 60–71. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-004-0896-0Google Scholar
Keith, S. A. & Bull, J. W. (2017). Animal culture impacts species’ capacity to realise climate-driven range shifts. Ecography, 40(2), 296–304. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.02481Google Scholar
Kelley, L. A., Coe, R. L., Madden, J. R., & Healy, S. D. (2008). Vocal mimicry in songbirds. Animal Behaviour, 76(3), 521–528. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2008.04.012Google Scholar
Kendal, R. L., Coolen, I., van Bergen, Y., & Laland, K. N. (2005). Trade-offs in the adaptive use of social and asocial learning. Advances in the Study of Behavior, 35, 333–379. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-3454(05)35008-XGoogle Scholar
Kendal, R. L., Boogert, N. J., Rendell, L. E., Laland, K. N., Webster, M., & Jones, P. L. (2018). Social learning strategies: Bridge-building between fields. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 22(7), 651–665. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2018.04.003Google Scholar
Kenward, B., Rutz, C., Weir, A. A. S., & Kacelnik, A. (2006). Development of tool use in New Caledonian crows: Inherited action patterns and social influences. Animal Behaviour, 72(6), 1329–1343. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2006.04.007Google Scholar
Kleindorfer, S., Evans, C., & Colombelli-Négrel, D. (2014). Females that experience threat are better teachers. Biology Letters, 10(5), 14–17. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2014.0046Google Scholar
Kluen, E. & Brommer, J. E. (2013). Context-specific repeatability of personality traits in a wild bird: A reaction-norm perspective. Behavioral Ecology, 24(3), 650–658. https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/ars221Google Scholar
Kroodsma, D. E. (1988). Song types and their use: Developmental flexibility of the male blue‐winged warbler. Ethology, 79(3), 235–247. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1439-0310.1988.tb00713.xGoogle Scholar
Kroodsma, D. E., & Pickert, R. (1984). Repertoire size, auditory templates, and selective vocal learning in songbirds. Animal Behaviour, 32(2), 395–399. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0003-3472(84)80275-4Google Scholar
Kroodsma, D. E., Houlihan, P. W., Falleon, P. A., & Wells, J. A. (1997). Song development by grey catbirds. Animal Behaviour, 54(2), 457–464. https://doi.org/10.1006/anbe.1996.0387Google Scholar
Kroodsma, D. E., Liu, W.-C., Goodwin, E., & Bedell, P. A. (1999). The ecology of song improvisation as illustrated by North American sedge wrens. The Auk, 116(2), 373–386.Google Scholar
Kuhl, P. K. (2004). Early language acquisition: Cracking the speech code. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 5(11), 831–843. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn1533Google Scholar
Kurvers, R. H. J. M., van Oers, K., Nolet, B. A., Jonker, R. M., van Wieren, S. E., Prins, H. H. T., & Ydenberg, R. C. (2010). Personality predicts the use of social information. Ecology Letters, 13(7), 829–837. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2010.01473.xGoogle Scholar
Lachlan, R. F. & Slater, P. J. B. (2003). Song learning by chaffinches: How accurate, and from where? Animal Behaviour, 65(5), 957–969. https://doi.org/10.1006/anbe.2003.2091Google Scholar
Lachlan, R. F. & Servedio, M. R. (2004). Social learning accelerates allopatric speciation. Evolution, 58, 2049–2063.Google Scholar
Lachlan, R. F., Ratmann, O., & Nowicki, S. (2018). Cultural conformity generates extremely stable traditions in bird song. Nature Communications, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-04728-1Google Scholar
Laland, K. N. (2004). Social learning strategies. Learning & Behavior, 32(1), 4–14. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms4570Google Scholar
Leadbeater, E. & Chittka, L. (2009). Bumble-bees learn the value of social cues through experience. Biology Letters, 5(3), 310–312. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2008.0692Google Scholar
Leadbeater, E. & Chittka, L. (2007). The dynamics of social learning in an insect model, the bumblebee (Bombus terrestris). Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 61(11), 1789–1796. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-007-0412-4Google Scholar
Lee, V. E., Régli, N., McIvor, G. E., & Thornton, A. (2019). Social learning about dangerous people by wild jackdaws. Royal Society Open Science, 6, 191031. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.191031Google Scholar
Lefebvre, L. (1995). The opening of milk bottles by birds: Evidence for accelerating learning rates, but against the wave-of-advance model of cultural transmission. Behavioural Processes, 34, 43–53. https://doi.org/10.1016/0376-6357(94)00051-HGoogle Scholar
Lefebvre, L. & Helder, R. (1997). Scrounger numbers and the inhibition of social learning in pigeons. Behavioural Processes, 40(3), 201–207. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0376-6357(97)00783-3Google Scholar
Lefebvre, L., Templeton, J., Brown, K., & Koelle, M. (1997). Carib grackles imitate conspecific and zenaida dove tutors. Behaviour, 134(13), 1003–1017.Google Scholar
Leitner, S., Nicholson, J., Leisler, B., DeVoogd, T. J., & Catchpole, C. K. (2002). Song and the song control pathway in the brain can develop independently of exposure to song in the sedge warbler. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 269(1509), 2519–2524. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2002.2172Google Scholar
Lotem, A., Halpern, J. Y., Edelman, S., & Kolodny, O. (2017). The evolution of cognitive mechanisms in response to cultural innovations. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 114(30), 7915–7922. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1620742114Google Scholar
Luther, D. & Baptista, L. (2010). Urban noise and the cultural evolution of bird songs. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 277(1680), 469–473. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2009.1571Google Scholar
Magrath, R. D., Haff, T. M., Fallow, P. M., & Radford, A. N. (2015). Eavesdropping on heterospecific alarm calls: From mechanisms to consequences. Biological Reviews, 90(2), 560–586. https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.12122Google Scholar
Magrath, R. D., Haff, T. M., McLachlan, J. R., & Igic, B. (2015). Wild birds learn to eavesdrop on heterospecific alarm calls. Current Biology, 25(15), 2047–2050. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2015.06.028Google Scholar
Marchetti, C. & Drent, P. J. (2000). Individual differences in the use of social information in foraging by captive great tits. Animal Behaviour, 60(1), 131–140. https://doi.org/10.1006/anbe.2000.1443Google Scholar
Marler, P. (1970). A comparative approach to vocal learning: Song development in white-crowned sparrows. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 71(2), 1–25.Google Scholar
Marler, P. & Pickert, R. (1984). Species-universal microstructure in the learned song of the swamp sparrow (Melospiza georgiana). Animal Behaviour, 32(3), 673–689. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0003-3472(84)80143-8Google Scholar
Matychuk, P. (2005). The role of child-directed speech in language acquisition: A case study. Language Sciences, 27(3), 301–379. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.langsci.2004.04.004Google Scholar
Mazur, R. & Seher, V. (2008). Socially learned foraging behaviour in wild black bears, Ursus americanus. Animal Behaviour, 75(4), 1503–1508. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2007.10.027Google Scholar
McGregor, P. K. & Krebs, J. R. (1989). Song learning in adult great tits (Parus major): Effects of neighbours. Behaviour, 108(1), 139–159.Google Scholar
Mesoudi, A., Whiten, A., & Laland, K. N. (2004). Perspective: Is human cultural evolution Darwinian? Evidence reviewed from the perspective of the Origin of Species. Evolution, 58(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1554/03-212Google Scholar
Mesoudi, A., Chang, L., Dall, S. R. X., & Thornton, A. (2016). The evolution of individual and cultural variation in social learning. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 31(3), 215–225. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2015.12.012Google Scholar
Mesoudi, A. & Thornton, A. (2018). What is cumulative cultural evolution? Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 285, 20180712. https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2018.0712Google Scholar
Mettke, C. (1995). Explorationsverhalten von Papageien – Adaptation an die Umwelt? Journal of Ornithology, 136(4), 468–471. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01651596Google Scholar
Mettke-Hofmann, C. (2000). Changes in exploration from courtship to the breeding state in red-rumped parrots (Psephotus haematonotus). Behavioural Processes, 49(3), 139–148. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0376-6357(00)00084-XGoogle Scholar
Mettke-Hofmann, C. (2007). Object exploration of garden and Sardinian warblers peaks in spring. Ethology, 113(2), 174–182. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1439-0310.2006.01307.xGoogle Scholar
Midford, P. E., Hailman, J. P., & Woolfenden, G. E. (2000). Social learning of a novel foraging patch in families of free-living Florida scrub-jays. Animal Behaviour, 59(6), 1199–1207. https://doi.org/10.1006/anbe.1999.1419Google Scholar
Miller, R., Bugnyar, T., Pölzl, K., & Schwab, C. (2015). Differences in exploration behaviour in common ravens and carrion crows during development and across social context. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 69(7), 1209–1220. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-015-1935-8Google Scholar
Moore, B. R. (1992). Avian movement imitation and a new form of mimicry: Tracing the evolution of a complex form of learning. Behaviour, 122(3), 231–263. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/4535050Google Scholar
Mueller, T., O’Hara, R. B., Converse, S. J., Urbanek, R. P., & Fagan, W. F. (2013). Social learning of migratory performance. Science, 341(6149), 999–1002. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1237139Google Scholar
Nehaniv, C. & Dautenhahn, K. (2002). The Correspondence Problem. In Dautenhahn, K. & Nehaniv, C. (Eds.), Imitation in Animals and Artifacts (pp. 41–61). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Nelson, D. A. (2000). A preference for own-subspecies’ song guides vocal learning in a song bird. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 97(24), 13348–13353. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.240457797Google Scholar
Nicol, C. J. & Pope, S. J. (1994). Social learning in small flocks of laying hens. Animal Behaviour, 47, 1289–1296. https://doi.org/10.1006/anbe.1994.1177Google Scholar
Nocera, J. J., Forbes, G. J., & Giraldeau, L.-A. (2006). Inadvertent social information in breeding site selection of natal dispersing birds. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 273(1584), 349–355. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2005.3318Google Scholar
Norton-Griffiths, M. (1967). Some ecological aspects of the feeding behaviour of the oystercatcher Haematopus ostralegus on the edible mussel Mytilus edulis. Ibis, 109, 412–424.Google Scholar
Nottebohm, F. (1970). Ontogeny of bird song. Science, 167(3920), 950–956. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.167.3920.950Google Scholar
Nowicki, S., Peters, S., Searcy, W. A., & Clayton, C. (1999). The development of within-song type variation in song sparrows. Animal Behaviour, 57(6), 1257–1264. https://doi.org/10.1006/anbe.1999.1098Google Scholar
Nowicki, S., Searcy, W. A. & Peters, S. (2002). Quality of song learning affects female response to male bird song. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 269(1503), 1949–1954. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2002.2124Google Scholar
Palacín, C., Alonso, J. C., Alonso, J. A., Magaña, M., & Martín, C. A. (2011). Cultural transmission and flexibility of partial migration patterns in a long-lived bird, the great bustard Otis tarda. Journal of Avian Biology, 42, 301–308. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-048X.2011.05395.xGoogle Scholar
Palumbi, S. R. (2001). Humans as the world’s greatest evolutionary force. Science, 293, 1786–1790.Google Scholar
Payne, R. B., Payne, L. L., & Woods, J. L. (1998). Song learning in brood-parasitic indigobirds Vidua chalybeata: Song mimicry of the host species. Animal Behaviour, 55(6), 1537–1553. https://doi.org/10.1006/anbe.1997.0701Google Scholar
Payne, R. B., Payne, L. L., Woods, J. L., & Sorenson, M. D. (2000). Imprinting and the origin of parasite-host species associations in brood parasitic indigobirds, Vidua chalybeata. Animal Behaviour, 59, 69–81.Google Scholar
Podos, J. & Warren, P. S. (2007). The evolution of geographic variation in birdsong. Advances in the Study of Behavior, 37(07), 403–458. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-3454(07)37009-5Google Scholar
Potvin, D. A., Ratnayake, C. P., Radford, A. N., & Magrath, R. D. (2018). Birds learn socially to recognize heterospecific alarm calls by acoustic association. Current Biology, 28(16), 2632–2637. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2018.06.013Google Scholar
Raihani, N. J. & Ridley, A. R. (2007). Adult vocalizations during provisioning: Offspring response and postfledging benefits in wild pied babblers. Animal Behaviour, 74(5), 1303–1309. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2007.02.025Google Scholar
Raihani, N. J. & Ridley, A. R. (2008). Experimental evidence for teaching in wild pied babblers. Animal Behaviour, 75(1), 3–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2007.07.024Google Scholar
Ramakers, J. J. C., Dechmann, D. K. N., Page, R. A., & O’Mara, M. T. (2016). Frugivorous bats prefer information from novel social partners. Animal Behaviour, 116, 83–87. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2016.03.021Google Scholar
Rendell, L. E., Fogarty, L., Hoppitt, W. J. E., Morgan, T. J. H., Webster, M. M., & Laland, K. N. (2011). Cognitive culture: Theoretical and empirical insights into social learning strategies. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 15(2), 68–76. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2010.12.002Google Scholar
Rendell, L. E., Fogarty, L., & Laland, K. N. (2011). Runaway cultural niche construction. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 366(1566), 823–835. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2010.0256Google Scholar
Rosa, P., Nguyen, V., & Dubois, F. (2012). Individual differences in sampling behaviour predict social information use in zebra finches. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 66(9), 1259–1265. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-012-1379-3Google Scholar
Ryan, S. J. (2006). The role of culture in conservation planning for small or endangered populations. Conservation Biology, 20(4), 1321–1324. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2006.00347.xGoogle Scholar
Sasaki, T. & Biro, D. (2017). Cumulative culture can emerge from collective intelligence in animal groups. Nature Communications, 8, 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms15049Google Scholar
Seppänen, J. T. & Forsman, J. T. (2007). Interspecific social learning: Novel preference can be acquired from a competing species. Current Biology, 17(14), 1248–1252. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2007.06.034Google Scholar
Seppänen, J. T., Forsman, J. T., Mönkkönen, M., Krams, I., & Salmi, T. (2011). New behavioural trait adopted or rejected by observing heterospecific tutor fitness. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 278(1712), 1736–1741. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2010.1610Google Scholar
Sherry, D. F. & Galef, B. G. (1984). Cultural transmission without imitation: Milk bottle opening by birds. Animal Behaviour, 32(3), 937–938. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0003-3472(84)80185-2Google Scholar
Shettleworth, S. J. (2010). Cognition, Evolution, and Behavior. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Sih, A. (2013). Understanding variation in behavioural responses to human-induced rapid environmental change: A conceptual overview. Animal Behaviour, 85(5), 1077–1088. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2013.02.017Google Scholar
Sih, A., Ferrari, M. C. O., & Harris, D. J. (2011). Evolution and behavioural responses to human-induced rapid environmental change. Evolutionary Applications, 4, 367–387. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1752-4571.2010.00166.xGoogle Scholar
Slabbekoorn, H. & Smith, T. B. (2002). Bird song, ecology and speciation. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 357(1420), 493–503. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2001.1056Google Scholar
Slagsvold, T., Hansen, B. T., Johannessen, L. E., & Lifjeld, J. T. (2002). Mate choice and imprinting in birds studied by cross-fostering in the wild. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 269(1499), 1449–1455. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2002.2045Google Scholar
Slagsvold, T. & Wiebe, K. L. (2007). Learning the ecological niche. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 274(1606), 19–23. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2006.3663Google Scholar
Slagsvold, T. & Wiebe, K. L. (2011). Social learning in birds and its role in shaping a foraging niche. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 366(1567), 969–977. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2010.0343Google Scholar
Spector, D. A., McKim, L. K., & Kroodsma, D. E. (1989). Yellow warblers are able to learn songs and the situations in which to use them. Animal Behaviour, 38(4), 723–725. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0003-3472(89)80023-5Google Scholar
Templeton, J. J. & Giraldeau, L.-A. (1996). Vicarious sampling: The use of personal and public information by starlings foraging in a simple patchy environment. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 38(2), 105–114. https://doi.org/10.1007/s002650050223Google Scholar
ten Cate, C. & Vos, D. R. (1999). Sexual imprinting and evolutionary processes in birds: A reassessment. Advances in the Study of Behavior, 28, 1–31. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-3454(08)60214-4Google Scholar
Tennie, C., Call, J., & Tomasello, M. (2009). Ratcheting up the ratchet: On the evolution of cumulative culture. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 364(1528), 2405–2415. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2009.0052Google Scholar
Thornton, A. & Raihani, N. J. (2008). The evolution of teaching. Animal Behaviour, 75, 1823–1836. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1558-5646.2011.01370.xGoogle Scholar
Thornton, A. & Malapert, A. (2009). Experimental evidence for social transmission of food acquisition techniques in wild meerkats. Animal Behaviour, 78(2), 255–264. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2009.04.021Google Scholar
Thornton, A. & McAuliffe, K. (2012). Teaching can teach us a lot. Animal Behaviour, 83(4), e6–e9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2012.01.029Google Scholar
Toelch, U., van Delft, M. J., Bruce, M. J., Donders, R., Meeus, M. T. H., & Reader, S. M. (2009). Decreased environmental variability induces a bias for social information use in humans. Evolution and Human Behavior, 30(1), 32–40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2008.07.003Google Scholar
Urbanek, R. P., Fondow, L. E. A., Zimorski, S. E., Wellington, M. A., & Nipper, M. A. (2010). Winter release and management of reintroduced migratory whooping cranes Grus americana. Bird Conservation International, 20(1), 43–54. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959270909990153Google Scholar
Virzi, T., Boulton, R. L., Davis, M. J., Gilroy, J. J., & Lockwood, J. L. (2012). Effectiveness of artificial song playback on influencing the settlement decisions of an endangered resident grassland passerine. The Condor, 114(4), 846–855. https://doi.org/10.1525/cond.2012.100197Google Scholar
van de Waal, E., Renevey, N., Favre, C. M., & Bshary, R. (2010). Selective attention to philopatric models causes directed social learning in wild vervet monkeys. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 277(1691), 2105–2111. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2009.2260Google Scholar
Whiten, A. (2017). A second inheritance system: The extension of biology through culture. Interface Focus, 7(5). https://doi.org/10.1098/rsfs.2016.0142Google Scholar
Whiten, A., Caldwell, C. A., & Mesoudi, A. (2016). Cultural diffusion in humans and other animals. Current Opinion in Psychology, 8, 15–21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2015.09.002Google Scholar
Whiten, A., Ayala, F. J., Feldman, M. W., & Laland, K. N. (2017). The extension of biology through culture. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 114(30), 7775–7781. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1707630114Google Scholar
Wilkinson, A., Kuenstner, K., Mueller, J., & Huber, L. (2010). Social learning in a non-social reptile (Geochelone carbonaria). Biology Letters, 6, 614–616. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2010.0092Google Scholar
Wilkinson, G. S. & Boughman, J. W. (1999). Social Influences on Foraging in Bats. In Box, H. O. & Gibson, K. R. (Eds.), Mammalian Social Learning: Comparative and Ecological Perspectives (pp. 188–204). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Zentall, T. R., Sutton, J. E., & Sherburne, L. M. (1996). True imitative learning in pigeons. Psychological Science, 7(6), 343–346. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.1996.tb00386.xGoogle Scholar
Zollinger, S. A., Slater, P. J. B., Nemeth, E., & Brumm, H. (2017). Higher songs of city birds may not be an individual response to noise. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 284(1860), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2017.0602Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×