School of Natural Sciences & Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University, James Parsons building, Liverpool, United Kingdom.
Independent Researcher, Moreton, Wirral, United Kingdom.
PLoS One. 2019 Apr 3;14(4):e0214531. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0214531. eCollection 2019.
Colour polymorphism is a widespread phenomenon and often encompasses different behavioural traits and strategies. More recently, it has been shown that morphs can also signal consistent individual differences (personality). An example are Gouldian finches that show discrete head colour morphs in the same population with red-headed birds being more aggressive but less risk-taking and explorative than black-headed birds in the lab. The current study aimed to investigate the link between head colour and behavioural traits in a naturally risky situation in the wild by recording the order of descent at waterholes in relation to hypotheses considering conspicuousness, dominance relationships and experience. Other bird species at the waterholes were also included in the study. Adult Gouldian finches generally preceded juveniles and among the adults the least conspicuous black-headed females descended first to the waterhole. Overall, females descended before the males though this pattern disappeared later in the season likely due to family groups breaking up and releasing males from attending to the juveniles. Finally, Gouldian finches almost always followed other species, particularly Long-tailed finches, to the ground rather than taking the lead. A two-level process of decision-making seems to explain the responses best: on the first level, experience separates adults from juveniles with adults preceding juveniles and on the second level, conspicuousness acts as a factor among the adults with the least conspicuous category taking the lead. Future studies should directly test the link between head colour and personality in the wild, look more into seasonal effects and investigate whether Gouldian finches use Long-tailed finches as an indicator of safety.
颜色多态性是一种广泛存在的现象，通常包含不同的行为特征和策略。最近，人们发现形态也可以传递一致的个体差异（个性）。例如，在同一 Gouldian finch 种群中，红头鸟比黑头鸟更具攻击性、冒险性和探索性。本研究旨在通过记录与假设有关的水洞下降顺序来研究在野外自然风险情况下头部颜色与行为特征之间的联系，这些假设考虑了显眼度、支配关系和经验。研究还包括了水洞中的其他鸟类。成年 Gouldian finch 通常在幼年 Gouldian finch 之前，在成年 Gouldian finch 中，最不显眼的黑头雌鸟首先下降到水洞。总体而言，雌性在雄性之前下降，但这种模式在季节后期消失，可能是因为家庭群体解散，雄性不再需要照顾幼鸟。最后，Gouldian finch 几乎总是跟随其他物种，尤其是长尾雀，到地面上，而不是带头。似乎有一个两级决策过程可以最好地解释这些反应：在第一个层面上，经验将成年 Gouldian finch 与幼年 Gouldian finch 区分开来，成年 Gouldian finch 先于幼年 Gouldian finch；在第二个层面上，显眼度在成年 Gouldian finch 中作为一个因素，最不显眼的类别带头。未来的研究应该直接在野外测试头部颜色和个性之间的联系，更多地研究季节性影响，并调查 Gouldian finch 是否将长尾雀作为安全的指示物。
