- 1Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, U.K.
- 2Department of Collective Behaviour, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Konstanz, Germany.
- 3Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, U.K.
Abstract
Neophobia,
or the fear of novelty, may offer benefits to animals by limiting their
exposure to unknown danger, but can also impose costs by preventing the
exploration of potential resources. The costs and benefits of neophobia
may vary throughout the year if predation pressure, resource
distribution or conspecific competition changes seasonally. Despite such
variation, neophobia levels are often assumed to be temporally and
individually stable. Whether or not neophobia expression changes
seasonally and fluctuates equally for all individuals is crucial to
understanding the drivers, consequences and plasticity of novelty
avoidance. We investigated seasonal differences and individual
consistency in the motivation and novelty responses of a captive group
of rooks, Corvus frugilegus,
a seasonally breeding, colonial species of corvid that is known for
being neophobic. We tested the group around novel objects and novel
people to determine whether responses generalized across novelty types,
and considered whether differences in dominance could influence the
social risk of approaching unknown stimuli. We found that the group's
level of object neophobia was stable year-round, but individuals were
not consistent between seasons, despite being consistent within seasons.
In contrast, the group's avoidance of novel people decreased during the
breeding season, and individuals were consistent year-round.
Additionally, although subordinate birds were more likely to challenge
dominants during the breeding season, this social risk taking did not
translate to greater novelty approach. Since seasonal variation and
individual consistency varied differently towards each novelty type,
responses towards novel objects and people seem to be governed by
different mechanisms. Such a degree of fluctuation has consequences for
other individually consistent behaviours often measured within the
nonhuman personality literature.
KEYWORDS:
dominance; individual consistency; neophobia; predatory wariness; seasonal change
