Responses of coal tits (Periparus ater) to aversive food: insights into hoarding motivation and memory
Abstract Food-hoarding birds hide many different food types, and are able to remember which kind of food they have hidden and where it was located. Usually, these different food types, although potentially of different value to the birds, are all palatable and would be consumed when encountered. We...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Springer
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Animal Cognition |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-025-01969-8 |
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| author | D. D. O’Hagan D. Donley S. W. Y. Yeung C. D. Blasi Foglietti D. Wales D. Wintersgill T. V. Smulders |
| author_facet | D. D. O’Hagan D. Donley S. W. Y. Yeung C. D. Blasi Foglietti D. Wales D. Wintersgill T. V. Smulders |
| author_sort | D. D. O’Hagan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Food-hoarding birds hide many different food types, and are able to remember which kind of food they have hidden and where it was located. Usually, these different food types, although potentially of different value to the birds, are all palatable and would be consumed when encountered. We report on the responses of coal tits (Periparus ater) to peanut pieces that were made distasteful with quinine. While birds preferred eating normal peanut pieces over quinine-soaked ones, they were still very likely to hoard the distasteful nuts. Birds also did not distinguish between the two nut types when retrieving them after 30 min. These findings point towards the compulsive and automatic nature of hoarding decision, independent of the value of the food being hoarded. We discuss how high hoarding motivation may interact with eating motivation to drive natural patterns of hoarding intensity in the field. Our findings also suggest that the taste of hoarded food items is not part of the representation of the cache memory. We speculate that this may be because tasting the item and caching the item happens in separate locations and are therefore not associated with each other. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e6f74c7592cb401cb04f2690df1cc098 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 1435-9456 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | Springer |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Animal Cognition |
| spelling | doaj-art-e6f74c7592cb401cb04f2690df1cc0982025-08-20T03:05:10ZengSpringerAnimal Cognition1435-94562025-06-012811910.1007/s10071-025-01969-8Responses of coal tits (Periparus ater) to aversive food: insights into hoarding motivation and memoryD. D. O’Hagan0D. Donley1S. W. Y. Yeung2C. D. Blasi Foglietti3D. Wales4D. Wintersgill5T. V. Smulders6Centre for Behaviour and Evolution, Newcastle UniversityCentre for Behaviour and Evolution, Newcastle UniversitySchool of Psychology, Newcastle UniversitySchool of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle UniversitySchool of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle UniversitySchool of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle UniversityCentre for Behaviour and Evolution, Newcastle UniversityAbstract Food-hoarding birds hide many different food types, and are able to remember which kind of food they have hidden and where it was located. Usually, these different food types, although potentially of different value to the birds, are all palatable and would be consumed when encountered. We report on the responses of coal tits (Periparus ater) to peanut pieces that were made distasteful with quinine. While birds preferred eating normal peanut pieces over quinine-soaked ones, they were still very likely to hoard the distasteful nuts. Birds also did not distinguish between the two nut types when retrieving them after 30 min. These findings point towards the compulsive and automatic nature of hoarding decision, independent of the value of the food being hoarded. We discuss how high hoarding motivation may interact with eating motivation to drive natural patterns of hoarding intensity in the field. Our findings also suggest that the taste of hoarded food items is not part of the representation of the cache memory. We speculate that this may be because tasting the item and caching the item happens in separate locations and are therefore not associated with each other.https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-025-01969-8Hoarding motivationChickadeeDecision ruleQuininePalatabilityWhat-where memory |
| spellingShingle | D. D. O’Hagan D. Donley S. W. Y. Yeung C. D. Blasi Foglietti D. Wales D. Wintersgill T. V. Smulders Responses of coal tits (Periparus ater) to aversive food: insights into hoarding motivation and memory Animal Cognition Hoarding motivation Chickadee Decision rule Quinine Palatability What-where memory |
| title | Responses of coal tits (Periparus ater) to aversive food: insights into hoarding motivation and memory |
| title_full | Responses of coal tits (Periparus ater) to aversive food: insights into hoarding motivation and memory |
| title_fullStr | Responses of coal tits (Periparus ater) to aversive food: insights into hoarding motivation and memory |
| title_full_unstemmed | Responses of coal tits (Periparus ater) to aversive food: insights into hoarding motivation and memory |
| title_short | Responses of coal tits (Periparus ater) to aversive food: insights into hoarding motivation and memory |
| title_sort | responses of coal tits periparus ater to aversive food insights into hoarding motivation and memory |
| topic | Hoarding motivation Chickadee Decision rule Quinine Palatability What-where memory |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-025-01969-8 |
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