FINDING GOOD FOOD AND AVOIDING BAD FOOD - DOES IT HELP TO ASSOCIATE WITH EXPERIENCED FLOCKMATES

Flocks of male red-winged blackbirds, Agelaius phoeniceus, were observed as they foraged on 9 x 12-m tilled plots within a 0.2-ha flight pen. One of the plots contained rice seed treated with the bird repellent methiocarb; a second plot received untreated rice. When each flock displayed a consistent avoidance of the treated plot, the number of experienced birds in the 12-bird flock was sequentially reduced to six, three, one and zero. Latency to use of the untreated plot and time spent foraging in the treated plot by naive birds were greatly reduced when at least one experienced bird was present. Throughout the 4-day trials, use of the treated seed plot by naive birds was greater than that of experienced birds. The naive flock members benefited by following experienced birds to the untreated seed plot, thereby discovering and using it more quickly than when no experienced birds were present. The naive birds did not avoid the treated seed plot, however, and many ate the treated seed and became sick. Thus, the benefit of associating with experienced birds was in learning where to forage, not where to avoid.