OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING IN 3 SPECIES OF BIRDS

White‐throated Sparrows Zonotrickia albicollis, Fork‐tailed Flycatchers Muscivora tyrannus and Black‐capped Chickadees Porta atricapillus were placed in experimental situations where they could watch a trained companion uncover a hidden mealworm. After a period of watching its companion find the concealed mealworm, the observer bird was isolated visually from the other bird. While in isolation the observer birds approached, touched and pecked at a hidden food tray significantly more often than control birds which had not had an opportunity to observe a trained companion. However, the experimental birds failed to learn from observation alone how to uncover the concealed mealworm. But if rewarded in the presence of the companion bird (by taking a mealworm from it or by uncovering a mealworm as a result of local enhancement), then the observer bird frequently did come to find the prey in isolation. It is suggested that the interaction between observational learning and a bird's reinforced socially facilitated experience could assist in the development and expansion of a bird's behavioural repertoire. Copyright © 1969, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved