Wolff London M, Stevens Jeffrey R
B83 East Stadium, Department of Psychology, Center for Brain, Biology & Behavior, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588, USA.
Anim Welf. 2024 Nov 7;33:e49. doi: 10.1017/awf.2024.40. eCollection 2024.
The activity level and specific behaviours exhibited by captive animals are crucial indicators of welfare. Stereotypies, or repetitive behaviours that have no apparent function or goal, are performed by animals experiencing poor conditions in their environment and indicate welfare concerns. Changes in the housing environment in particular may have critical influences on behaviour and welfare. Here, we measured behavioural changes in a captive pinyon jay () population (n = 10) associated with a shift from single to pair housing. Using automated video processing, we show that pair housing greatly reduced overall activity levels in these birds. The stark reduction in activity was surprising, as we expected that social housing would increase interactions between birds, thus increasing activity levels. Upon further analysis, however, we found that stereotypic behaviours, such as beak scraping, jumping, pecking, and route tracing decreased after pair housing, whereas the positive welfare behaviours of perching and preening increased. Our results indicate that pair housing may reduce overall activity in pinyon jays; however, this reduction is primarily in stereotypic behaviours.
圈养动物表现出的活动水平和特定行为是福利的关键指标。刻板行为，即没有明显功能或目标的重复行为，是处于不良环境条件下的动物所表现出的行为，表明存在福利问题。特别是饲养环境的变化可能会对行为和福利产生关键影响。在这里，我们测量了圈养的美洲矮松鸦（n = 10）种群从单只饲养转变为成对饲养时的行为变化。通过自动化视频处理，我们发现成对饲养大大降低了这些鸟类的总体活动水平。活动的大幅减少令人惊讶，因为我们原本预计群居会增加鸟类之间的互动，从而提高活动水平。然而，经过进一步分析，我们发现成对饲养后，诸如喙刮擦、跳跃、啄击和路线追踪等刻板行为减少了，而栖息和梳理羽毛等积极的福利行为增加了。我们的结果表明，成对饲养可能会降低美洲矮松鸦的总体活动；然而，这种减少主要是在刻板行为方面。
