Colonial breeding impacts potentially fitness-relevant cognitive processes in barn swallows
Abstract Many animals breed colonially, often in dense clusters, representing a complex social environment with cognitive demands that could ultimately impact individual fitness. However, the effects of social breeding on the evolution of cognitive processes remain largely unknown. We tested the hyp...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Springer
2024-03-01
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| Series: | Animal Cognition |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-024-01841-1 |
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| author | Angela Medina-García Ellen Scherner Molly T. McDermott Mark E. Hauber Rebecca J. Safran |
| author_facet | Angela Medina-García Ellen Scherner Molly T. McDermott Mark E. Hauber Rebecca J. Safran |
| author_sort | Angela Medina-García |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Many animals breed colonially, often in dense clusters, representing a complex social environment with cognitive demands that could ultimately impact individual fitness. However, the effects of social breeding on the evolution of cognitive processes remain largely unknown. We tested the hypothesis that facultative colonial breeding influences attention and decision-making. Barn swallows (Hirundo rustica) breed in solitary pairs or in a range of colony sizes, up to dozens of pairs. We tested for selective attention to social information with playbacks of conspecific alarm calls and for decision-making with simulated predator intrusions, across a range of colony sizes from 1 to 33 pairs. We also evaluated the adaptive value of both processes by measuring seasonal reproductive success. Swallows breeding in larger colonies were more selective in their attention to social information. Birds breeding in larger colonies were also less risk averse, deciding to return more quickly to their nests after a predator approach paradigm. Finally, birds that showed higher selective attention hatched more eggs and birds that returned to their nests more quickly after a predator intrusion had more nestlings. Although we cannot fully attribute these fitness outcomes to the cognitive measures considered in this study, our results suggest that social breeding plays a role in adaptively shaping both the acquisition of social information and decision-making. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-dec4ee216dea421799bfb809a81fc117 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1435-9456 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-03-01 |
| publisher | Springer |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Animal Cognition |
| spelling | doaj-art-dec4ee216dea421799bfb809a81fc1172025-01-26T12:44:09ZengSpringerAnimal Cognition1435-94562024-03-0127111110.1007/s10071-024-01841-1Colonial breeding impacts potentially fitness-relevant cognitive processes in barn swallowsAngela Medina-García0Ellen Scherner1Molly T. McDermott2Mark E. Hauber3Rebecca J. Safran4Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado at BoulderDepartment of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado at BoulderDepartment of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado at BoulderAdvanced Science Research Center and Program in Psychology, Graduate Center of the City University of New YorkDepartment of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado at BoulderAbstract Many animals breed colonially, often in dense clusters, representing a complex social environment with cognitive demands that could ultimately impact individual fitness. However, the effects of social breeding on the evolution of cognitive processes remain largely unknown. We tested the hypothesis that facultative colonial breeding influences attention and decision-making. Barn swallows (Hirundo rustica) breed in solitary pairs or in a range of colony sizes, up to dozens of pairs. We tested for selective attention to social information with playbacks of conspecific alarm calls and for decision-making with simulated predator intrusions, across a range of colony sizes from 1 to 33 pairs. We also evaluated the adaptive value of both processes by measuring seasonal reproductive success. Swallows breeding in larger colonies were more selective in their attention to social information. Birds breeding in larger colonies were also less risk averse, deciding to return more quickly to their nests after a predator approach paradigm. Finally, birds that showed higher selective attention hatched more eggs and birds that returned to their nests more quickly after a predator intrusion had more nestlings. Although we cannot fully attribute these fitness outcomes to the cognitive measures considered in this study, our results suggest that social breeding plays a role in adaptively shaping both the acquisition of social information and decision-making.https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-024-01841-1Barn swallowCognitionColony sizeFitnessPredator intrusionsReproductive success |
| spellingShingle | Angela Medina-García Ellen Scherner Molly T. McDermott Mark E. Hauber Rebecca J. Safran Colonial breeding impacts potentially fitness-relevant cognitive processes in barn swallows Animal Cognition Barn swallow Cognition Colony size Fitness Predator intrusions Reproductive success |
| title | Colonial breeding impacts potentially fitness-relevant cognitive processes in barn swallows |
| title_full | Colonial breeding impacts potentially fitness-relevant cognitive processes in barn swallows |
| title_fullStr | Colonial breeding impacts potentially fitness-relevant cognitive processes in barn swallows |
| title_full_unstemmed | Colonial breeding impacts potentially fitness-relevant cognitive processes in barn swallows |
| title_short | Colonial breeding impacts potentially fitness-relevant cognitive processes in barn swallows |
| title_sort | colonial breeding impacts potentially fitness relevant cognitive processes in barn swallows |
| topic | Barn swallow Cognition Colony size Fitness Predator intrusions Reproductive success |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-024-01841-1 |
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