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Social learning and innovation are positively correlated in pigeons (Columba livia)

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Abstract

When animals show both frequent innovation and fast social learning, new behaviours can spread more rapidly through populations and potentially increase rates of natural selection and speciation, as proposed by A.C. Wilson in his behavioural drive hypothesis. Comparative work on primates suggests that more innovative species also show more social learning. In this study, we look at intra-specific variation in innovation and social learning in captive wild-caught pigeons. Performances on an innovative problem-solving task and a social learning task are positively correlated in 42 individuals. The correlation remains significant when the effects of neophobia on the two abilities are removed. Neither sex nor dominance rank are associated with performance on the two tasks. Free-flying flocks of urban pigeons are able to solve the innovative food-finding problem used on captive birds, demonstrating it is within the range of their natural capacities. Taken together with the comparative literature, the positive correlation between innovation and social learning suggests that the two abilities are not traded-off.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Suchot Sunday for her help in caring for the pigeons, as well as Sandra Webster for letting us use her apparatus for the innovation tests. This study was funded by a NSERC graduate scholarship to Julie Bouchard, a NSERC research grant to Louis Lefebvre, and a NSERC undergraduate scholarship to Will Goodyer. The research reported here was approved by the McGill University Animal Care Committee (Animal Utilisation Protocol No. 4355) and complies with Canadian laws.

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Correspondence to Louis Lefebvre.

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Bouchard, J., Goodyer, W. & Lefebvre, L. Social learning and innovation are positively correlated in pigeons (Columba livia). Anim Cogn 10, 259–266 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-006-0064-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-006-0064-1

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