Jilin Engineering Laboratory for Avian Ecology and Conservation Genetics, School of Life Sciences, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, 130024, China.
Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Resource Conservation and Utilization, School of Life Sciences, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, 130024, China.
Anim Cogn. 2024 Mar 2;27(1):8. doi: 10.1007/s10071-024-01847-9.
Predation risk may affect the foraging behavior of birds. However, there has been little research on the ability of domestic birds to perceive predation risk and thus adjust their feeding behavior. In this study, we tested whether domestic budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus) perceived predation risk after the presentation of specimens and sounds of sparrowhawks (Accipiter nisus), domestic cats (Felis catus), and humans, and whether this in turn influenced their feeding behavior. When exposed to visual or acoustic stimuli, budgerigars showed significantly longer latency to feed under sparrowhawk, domestic cat, and human treatments than with controls. Budgerigars responded more strongly to acoustic stimuli than visual stimuli, and they showed the longest latency to feed and the least number of feeding times in response to sparrowhawk calls. Moreover, budgerigars showed shorter latency to feed and greater numbers of feeding times in response to human voices than to sparrowhawk or domestic cat calls. Our results suggest that domestic budgerigars may identify predation risk through visual or acoustic signals and adjust their feeding behavior accordingly.
捕食风险可能会影响鸟类的觅食行为。然而，对于家禽是否能够感知捕食风险并相应地调整其觅食行为，目前研究较少。在这项研究中，我们测试了家养虎皮鹦鹉（Melopsittacus undulatus）在展示雀鹰（Accipiter nisus）、家猫（Felis catus）和人类标本和声音后，是否感知到捕食风险，以及这是否反过来影响它们的进食行为。当暴露于视觉或听觉刺激时，虎皮鹦鹉在雀鹰、家猫和人类处理组中进食的潜伏期明显长于对照组。虎皮鹦鹉对听觉刺激的反应比对视觉刺激的反应更强烈，它们对雀鹰叫声的反应表现出最长的进食潜伏期和最少的进食次数。此外，虎皮鹦鹉对人类声音的进食潜伏期较短，进食次数较多，而对雀鹰或家猫叫声的进食潜伏期较长，进食次数较少。我们的结果表明，家养虎皮鹦鹉可能通过视觉或听觉信号识别捕食风险，并相应地调整其进食行为。
