Electronic supplementary material
A Comparison of spontaneous problem solving abilities in three estrildid finch species
Martin Schmelz1, Oliver Krüger2, Josep Call1,3, E. Tobias Krause2,4,5*
1 Department of Developmental and Comparative Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
2 Department of Animal Behaviour, Bielefeld University, Morgenbreede 45, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany
3 University of St Andrews, School of Psychology and Neuroscience
4Behavioural Ecology Group, Department of Animal Sciences, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands
5Institute of Animal Welfare and Animal Husbandry, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Doernbergstrasse 25/27, 29223 Celle, Germany
*Corresponding author:
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Electronic supplementary materials:
Figure S1: Photos of the rewarded sites of the experimental apparatuses, a) the string test, b) the bar test and c) the lid test.
Average latencies of the successful birds to solve the task, manipulationsprior to solving and first approaches
In the string test, the successful zebra finches (N=12) needed on average 599s ± 472s (S.D.) to solve the task and the successful diamond firetails (N=7) needed on average 828s ± 547s (S.D.). First choices of the successful birds in the string test (i.e. activity score 3 or 4 on one of the sides) in zebra finches was directed to the rewarded side ten times and to the unrewarded side two times. In diamond firetails, two individuals’ first choices were directed to the rewarded side and five to the unrewarded side. The successful zebra finches on average made 2.6 ± 2.6 (S.D.) unsuccessful attempts prior to success (i.e. activity score 4 that did not result in solving the task) and the diamond firetails made 1.1 ± 1.7 (S.D.) unsuccessful attempts.
In the bar test, the successful zebra finches (N=3) needed on average 799s ± 307s (S.D.) to solve the task and the successful diamond firetails (N=5) needed on average 743 ± 469s (S.D.). First choices of the successful birds in the bar test (i.e. activity score 3 or 4 to one of the sides) was in all zebra finches and diamond firetails directed towards the rewarded side. The successful zebra finches on average on average mad 26.0 ± 8.2 (S.D.) unsuccessful attempts prior to success (i.e. activity score 4 that did not result in solving the task) and the diamond firetails made 7.2 ± 5.3 (S.D.) unsuccessful attempts.
In the lid test, the successful diamond firetail needed 856s without any prior unsuccessful attempts (i.e. activity score 4) and first approached (i.e. activity score 3 or 4) the unrewarded side.
Descriptions of the videos provided in the electronic supplementary material (S2-S4).
Video S2: Zebra finch of the “white” strain solving the string test.
Video S3: Diamond firetail solving the bar test.
Video S4: Diamond firetail solving the lid test.