Metrics details Exploration is among one of the most studied of animal personality traits (i.e. individual-level behavioural responses repeatable across time and contexts) not all species show clear evidence of this personality trait and this is particularly so for members of the Corvidae family We assessed the exploratory behaviour of four food-caching corvid species: pinyon jays (Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus) Clark’s nutcrackers (Nucifraga columbiana) California scrub jays (Aphelocoma californica) Contextual repeatability was assessed through examining behavioural measures during the Novel Environment task and the Novel Object task whereas temporal repeatability was assessed by examining changes in these measures over repeated trials an individual’s exploratory behaviour was not repeatable across contexts or over time we found no evidence that exploration constitutes a personality trait for these species of corvid We did find differences in exploratory behaviour that may be explained by relative reliance on cached food it is important to examine whether animals have repeatable behavioural responses to better understand how they cope with novel or changing environments it is becoming increasingly important to understand how individuals explore novelty to better evaluate whether these environmental changes affect species differently suggesting instead that exploration may be context-dependent investigating corvids’ exploratory behaviour provides us with an opportunity to understand the potential uniqueness of this bird family among other animal species resulting in the presence of a great range of personalities within a population in addition to those collected from Clark’s nutcrackers and pinyon jays in the current study allowed us to more closely examine the contribution of relative sociality and feeding ecology to exploration in corvids The current study aimed to investigate the exploratory behaviour of corvids at the individual level and species level we examined whether an individual’s exploratory behaviour constituted a personality trait we assessed the temporal repeatability and the contextual repeatability of an individual’s exploratory behaviour we investigated whether corvids differed in their exploration by comparing the behavioural responses of four closely-related North American corvid species and/or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed Our research protocol was approved by University of Manitoba’s Animal Care Committee (#F2014-037) and complied with the guidelines set by the Canadian Council on Animal Care All individuals were housed in individual cages (jays: 51 × 51 × 72 cm width x depth x height; nutcrackers and magpies: 82 × 54 × 76 cm) Both jay species were held in the same colony room whereas nutcrackers and magpies were held in a species-specific colony room Colony rooms were maintained at 22 °C with a 12:12 day-night cycle Birds were given an ad libitum amount of water and grit during the study Their regular diet consisted of parrot pellets The experimental procedures used during the Novel Environment task for the scrub jays and magpies were the same as reported here which was conducted in a room different from that used in the current study Testing time of the day and order of individuals were randomized across species and individuals All trials were video-recorded using an Everfocus® 1/3″ colour digital camera and in the same locations for both environments comprised of perches used in the birds’ home cages Birds were never exposed to the artificial trees nor to the environments prior to the current experiment Behavioural measures for the novel environment task (NE) For each trial four dependent measures were recorded: (1) NE Exit Latency – duration in seconds from when the start box door was opened to when the individual exited (i.e. when the bird’s entire body was out of the start box) (2) NE First Visit Latency – duration in seconds for an individual to visit the first tree (i.e. perching on at least one of a tree’s branches) from when it exited the start box (3) NE Number of Trees – number of trees visited at least once and (4) NE Number of Movements – number of “movements” made in the environment (i.e. individual flying or walking from one location to another with a minimum of two seconds latency between movements) If an individual did not exit the start box within 20 minutes it was given a NE Exit Latency of 1200 seconds; if an individual did not visit any of the trees within 20 minutes it was given a NE First Visit Latency of 1200 seconds and a NE Number of Trees of 0 All trials were conducted in the same environment as used during the first trial of the Novel Environment task and the start box remained in the same position The birds experienced a total of four trials each with a different object placed at the centre of the environment and visible from the start box (Trial 1: red cup The objects were selected to be distinctive and small enough to allow individuals to interact with them Only pinyon jays and nutcrackers performed this task Behavioural measures for the novel object task (NO) three dependent measures were recorded: (1) NO Exit Latency – duration in seconds from the start of the trial to when the individual exited the start box (i.e. (2) NO Approach Latency – duration in seconds from when the individual exited the start box to when it approached within a radius of 50 cm of the novel object and (3) NO Duration Close – relative duration spent less than 50 cm from the object (i.e. duration spent less than 50 cm from the object divided by duration spent outside of the start box [600 – NO Exit Latency]) If an individual did not exit the start box during a trial it was given a NO Exit Latency of 600 seconds; if a bird did not approach within 50 cm of an object it was given a NO Approach Latency of 600 seconds and a NO Duration Close of 0 Alpha values of p < 0.05 were considered significant To assess whether dependent variables measured the same behaviour we performed Spearman correlations between all measures collected within each task with a Bonferroni correction We conducted parametric bootstrapping (n = 1,000 loops) to estimate 95% confidence intervals and likelihood ratio tests to calculate p values for each repeatability estimate To determine the contextual repeatability of an individual’s exploratory behaviour across tasks we performed Spearman correlations between all repeatable measures using the data collected during the first trial of each task with a Bonferroni correction To compare the exploratory behaviours between corvid species we performed Kruskal-Wallis tests on all variables for the Novel Environment task and Mann-Whitney tests on all variables for the Novel Object task To compare the inter-individual variability between species we performed Levene’s tests on all variables collected using the car package and HSD Tukey’s tests for post-hoc comparisons using the dunn.test package During the first trial of the Novel Environment task, thirty-eight birds (n = 12 pinyon jays, n = 12 nutcrackers, n = 7 scrub jays, and n = 7 magpies) were tested. We found differences in the behavioural variables collected in the four corvid species (see Table 1 for all species comparisons using Kruskal-Wallis tests) Pinyon jays visited more trees than magpies (Dunn’s multiple comparison post-test: NE Number of Trees: p = 0.022) and nutcrackers made more movements than magpies (Dunn’s multiple comparison post-test: NE Number of Movements: p = 0.012) Thirty-three birds (n = 10 pinyon jays, n = 10 nutcrackers, n = 7 scrub jays, and n = 6 magpies) participated in the second trial of the NE task. We found differences in the behavioural variables collected in the four corvid species (see Table 1 for all species comparisons) Pinyon jays had a lower latency to exit the start box than nutcrackers (Dunn’s multiple comparison post-test: NE Exit Latency: p = 0.001) scrub jays (Dunn’s multiple comparison post-test: NE Exit Latency: p = 0.013) and magpies (Dunn’s multiple comparison post-test: NE Exit Latency: p = 0.008) Twenty-three birds (n = 11 pinyon jays, and n = 12 nutcrackers) participated in all four trials of the NO task. We found some differences in the behavioural variables between the two corvid species (see Table 2 for all species comparisons using Mann-Whitney tests) Nutcrackers had a lower latency to exit the start box during the first trial but pinyon jays had a lower latency to exit the start box during the second and third trials Nutcrackers had a lower latency to approach the novel object during the third trial For pinyon jays, NO Duration Close was negatively correlated with NO Exit Latency (rho = −0.44, p = 0.005; Table S5) and with NO Approach Latency (rho = −0.82, p < 0.001; Table S5) Individuals that spent a proportionally longer duration close to the object had a shorter latency to exit the start box and a shorter latency to approach the object once out of the start box For nutcrackers, NO Approach Latency was negatively correlated with NO Exit Latency (rho = −0.36, p = 0.011; Table S6) and with NO Duration Close (rho = −0.76, p < 0.001; Table S6) indicating that individuals that had a shorter latency to approach the novel object had a longer latency to exit the start box and spent relatively more time close to the novel object Individual behavioural differences for the four dependent variables collected during the Novel Environment task in the four corvid species Significant repeatability estimates are indicated in bold For individual magpies, NE Exit Latency was not repeatable across trials (NE Exit Latency: n = 6, R = 0.36 [95% CI: 0.00–0.92], p = 0.187), but NE First Visit Latency and NE Number of Movements were (NE First Visit Latency: n = 7, R = 0.90 [95% CI: 0.47–0.99], p < 0.001; NE Number of Movements: n = 6, R = 0.73 [95% CI: 0.00–0.91], p = 0.028; Fig. 1) Repeatability for NE Number of Trees was not calculated as individuals only visited zero or one tree Individual behavioural differences for the three dependent variables collected during the Novel Object task in the two corvid species For nutcrackers, NO Exit Latency and NO Approach Latency were repeatable over trials (NO Exit Latency: n = 12, R = 0.54 [95% CI: 0.16–0.78], p < 0.001; NO Approach Latency: n = 12, R = 0.47 [95% CI: 0.08–0.69], p < 0.001), but NO Duration Close was not (NO Duration Close: n = 12, R = 0.00 [95% CI: 0.00-1.00], p = 1.000; Fig. 2) correlations between both tasks using repeatable variables were non-significant: 1) NE First Visit and NO Exit Latency (rho = 0.252 and 2) NE Number of Movements and NO Exit Latency (rho = 0.030 correlations between repeatable variables between tasks were non-significant: 1) NE Number of Trees and NO Exit Latency (rho = 0.041 and 2) NE Number of Trees and NO Approach Latency (rho = −0.266 Inter-individual variability in four North American corvid species tested in the Novel Environment task: (a) NE Exit Latency During the first trial of the Novel Object task we found no differences in the amount of variability for each behavioural variable between pinyon jays and nutcrackers (NO Exit Latency: F1,21 = 0.736 p = 0.401; NO Approach Latency: F1,21= 0.612 p = 0.443; NO Duration Close: F1,17 = 0.798 The goals of our study were: (1) to determine the temporal and contextual repeatability of exploratory behaviour in corvids at the individual level using two commonly-used exploration tasks (Novel Environment and Novel Object) and (2) to compare exploration among corvid species our overall results showed that an individual’s exploratory behaviour was not temporally repeatable We also found that the behavioural measures of exploration at the individual level did not correlate between tasks suggesting an individual’s exploratory behaviour was not contextually repeatable these results suggest that the behaviour assessed during the two tasks did not constitute a personality trait we found some differences in the exploratory behaviour at the species level magpies visited significantly fewer trees and made fewer movements than pinyon jays or nutcrackers pinyon jays and nutcrackers differed in their latency to exit the start box inter-individual variability in exploratory behaviour significantly differed between magpies and pinyon jays as well as between magpies and nutcrackers we stress that future research should attempt to validate the tasks used or the study of animal personality Although we did not directly examine the influence of sociality and foraging ecology on the exploratory behaviour of our four corvid species this study provides a first insight into the factors underlying potential behavioural differences among these corvids Future research is necessary to determine whether corvids generally show different patterns of exploratory behaviour or if cache-reliance is driving these differences Other potential explanations exist for the differences in the exploratory behaviour between magpies and the other corvid species we examined Perhaps the most interesting may be related to the rearing environment of the birds whereas the three other species were wild-caught as adults the influence of developmental experiences on exploratory behaviour has not yet been examined in related corvid species whether the pattern of results we found are affected by these early experiences will require future investigation the current study assessed the repeatability of an individual’s exploratory behaviour during two commonly-used tasks for four species of corvid Our results support recent findings that exploration is context-dependent we showed that an individual’s exploratory behaviour as measured in these tasks does not seem to constitute a personality trait as the temporal and contextual repeatability of the behavioural variables collected during the two tasks was low We recommend that future research focus on validating tasks used to assess an individual’s exploratory behaviour We also suggest that future studies focus on the context-dependency of exploratory behaviour by corvids we found no supporting evidence that relative sociality explains inter-individual variability in 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in eastern chipmunks developmental and social aspects of responsiveness to novel objects in a family group of marmosets (Saguinus fuscicollis) Novel object exploration in ravens (Corvus corax): Effects of social relationships The validity of three tests of temperament in guppies (Poecilia reticulata) How to not measure boldness: novel object and antipredator responses are not the same in wild baboons Exploration behaviour in a different light: testing cross-context consistency of a common personality trait Revisiting the open-field test: what does it really tell us about animal personality Animal personality: what are behavioural ecologists measuring Evaluating the novel-environment for measurement of exploration by bird species Social personality: a more social shrew species exhibits stronger differences in personality types Iterative Evolution of Increased Behavioral Variation Characterizes the Transition to Sociality in Spiders and Proves Advantageous Personality traits in resident and migratory warbler species Cautious crows: Neophobia in Torresian crows (Corvus orru) compared with three other corvoids in suburban Australia Do neophobia and dietary wariness explain ecological flexibility An analysis with two seed-eating birds of contrasting habits Different patterns of behavioral variation across and within species of spiders with differing degrees of urbanization Animal personality due to social niche specialisation Social niche specialization under constraints: personality social interactions and environmental heterogeneity Residency and a Broad Feeding Spectrum are Related to Extensive Spatial Exploration in Parrots Spatial Neophilia and Spatial Neophobia in Resident and Migratory Warblers (Sylvia) Habitat preference and habitat exploration in two species of satyrine butterflies Download references This research was supported by a University of Manitoba Graduate Fellowship to AV and by a Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery Grant to DMK (#4944-2017) We thank Parisa Sepehri and Thomas Rawliuk for their help with video scoring conducted the experiments and analyzed the data; A.V The authors declare no competing interests Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-56138-y Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article. 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Volume 8 - 2020 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2020.571456 Perceived predation risk can elicit strong behavioral responses in potential prey songbirds exhibit anti-predator behaviors under experimental conditions we hypothesized that females of two ground-nesting songbird species the Ovenbird (Seiurus aurocapilla) and the Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus) would use naturally available cues of predation risk when selecting their nest site thereby avoiding activity hotspots of Eastern Chipmunks (Tamias striatus) a predator on songbird nests and fledglings We mapped chipmunk detections and songbird nests over four successive years in study plots located in mature deciduous forest of New Brunswick Chipmunk activity varied by an order of magnitude among study plots and years Nests were built further away from chipmunk detections than expected by chance in some the proportion of nests built within hotspots of chipmunk activity was four times lower in the two plots where chipmunk activity was highest we did not find clear evidence that chipmunk avoidance provided fitness benefits possibly because this behavior procured little protection at high chipmunk densities The persistence of this avoidance behavior in our focal species of ground-nesting songbirds might be linked to the benefits it procures at intermediate chipmunk densities the persistence of such behaviors in prey populations suggests that they are adaptive we aimed to determine whether ground-nesting songbird females respond proactively to nest predation risk in the absence of artificial enhancement of stimuli We hypothesized that females would assess nest predation risk when choosing a nest site Hermit Thrushes settle on territory slightly earlier than Ovenbirds but less is known about the cues they use to select their territory we predicted that daily nest success of either focal species will be negatively related to chipmunk activity at the nest we did not include harvest treatment in our models We recorded Eastern Chipmunk locations and songbird nest positions from 2012 to 2015 territorial males were individually identified using color band combinations We performed intensive nest searches within mapped Ovenbird territories and around locations where any sign of reproductive activity of the focal species had been detected during spot mapping we followed Ovenbird males in each territory to determine their pairing status (i.e. presence of a female or signs of reproductive activity) we followed her to detect cues suggesting the presence of a nest (e.g. individuals carrying nest material or food) We also followed males carrying food and we performed intensive searches in areas where we had lost sight of them nest searching was conducted every 2–3 days in each territory Hermit Thrush nests were found incidentally while spot mapping birds or nest predators or when conducting intensive nest searching within Ovenbird territories and nest-searching methods were consistent among plots and years the timing of Hermit Thrush nest building preceded that of Ovenbirds by ca All nests were monitored every 2–3 days until depredated All nests found (n = 104) were included in the analyses A nest was considered abandoned if it was undamaged (before eggs were laid or if the eggs were left untouched) but there were no signs of adult activity at or around the nest after three visits A predation event was recorded when a nest was found empty or partially empty after eggs had been laid and prior to the expected fledging date Although the spot mapping method we used to estimate Eastern Chipmunk activity does not yield an abundance estimate like capture-mark-recapture techniques it provides an estimate of visual and aural cues available to songbirds All survey protocols were approved by Université de Moncton’s Animal Care Committee All manipulations were performed in accordance with the guidelines and regulations of the Canadian Council on Animal Care Bivariate Ripley’s K-function is a point-event method that determines the scales at which two types of events (here bird nest locations and chipmunk detections) are either spatially aggregated or segregated from each other we used the coordinates of each chipmunk detection comprised within the 50% isopleth Observed Ripley’s K values are computed at increasing radius r and are depicted as the black line in the plots of Ripley’s K against the radii to assess the significance of Ripley’s K value calculated at increasing window sizes we used the null hypothesis of complete spatial randomness (CSR) based on a Poisson distribution We then used 99% confidence envelopes based on the CSR randomizations to determine the spatial relationship between the two types of points black line) that are outside the confidence envelope (in gray) indicate either spatial aggregation or spatial segregation when they fall below the envelope Bivariate Ripley’s K-function was performed for each plot and year separately because both nest and chipmunk locations varied over time and space We then estimated chipmunk activity using the kernel density function (Dale and Fortin, 2014) for each plot and for each year Kernel density function was computed using fixed Gaussian kernels to map hotspots of chipmunk detections at a 10 m resolution scale for an area of 1km × 1 km using the kde (kernel density estimation) function of the Hawthorne’s Geospatial Modelling Environment with ArcGIS We used the estimated value of chipmunk activity at each nest for our analyses on daily nest survival rate Daily nest survival rate was calculated using logistic-exposure models (Shaffer, 2004) and binomial distribution To determine whether chipmunk activity influenced fledging success of songbird nests we modeled daily nest survival rate as a function of chipmunk activity (kernel value at the nest location) and their interactions (fixed factors) with generalized linear models Year was included as a fixed factor in our models as previous research in the same study plots and during the same years showed strong fluctuations in daily nest survival rate in Ovenbirds which was negatively correlated with an index of chipmunk activity We obtained p-values for each fixed factor using likelihood ratio tests of the model with the fixed factor of interest against the model without the fixed factor of interest Parameter estimation was achieved using residual maximum likelihood Spatiotemporal variability in Eastern Chipmunk activity Kernel densities of eastern chipmunk detections (expressed as number of detections per hectare) in each study plot (25 ha) and year Note that plot size was adjusted to allow direct comparisons Black and white dots represent the locations of Ovenbird and Hermit Thrush nests Bivariate Ripley’s K statistics and generalized linear model were obtained with R version 3.2.2 (R Core Team, 2015) using spatstat (Baddeley and Turner, 2005) and AICcmodavg packages (Mazerolle, 2015) Spatial aggregation between the Eastern Chipmunk locations and the Hermit Thrush and Ovenbird nests The gray 99% confidence envelope and red line indicate the null hypothesis of complete spatial randomness (CSR) The black line indicates the observed Bivariate Ripley K values against Euclidean distance r When the black line is below the confidence envelope it indicates a significant negative spatial aggregated pattern This spatial heterogeneity in chipmunk activity provided opportunities for songbirds to build their nests in areas with lower predation risk these areas are not risk-free as other nest predators have larger home ranges that encompass those of songbirds females of both focal species living at least 3 to 5 years would be expected to encounter years of high or intermediate Eastern Chipmunk activity during their lifetime Figure 3. Distribution of Ovenbird territories, kernel densities of Eastern Chipmunk activity, and songbird nests found in study plot A. 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