GENERALIZATION OF AND EFFECTS OF PRE-EXPOSURE ON COLOR-AVOIDANCE LEARNING BY RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS (AGELAIUS PHOENICEUS)
GENERALIZATION OF AND EFFECTS OF PRE-EXPOSURE ON COLOR-AVOIDANCE LEARNING BY RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS (AGELAIUS PHOENICEUS)
复制标题
预暴露对红翅黑鸟（AGELAIUS PHOENICEUS）避色学习的概括和影响
DOI：
10.1093/auk/100.2.461
复制
发表时间：
1983
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
R. Reidinger
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
J. Mason;R. Reidinger
We report two experiments designed to assess whether quality of color (and shades) influences food-aversion learning by Red-winged Blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus). In Experiment 1, Red-wings were given food paired with one of two shades of red or green followed by toxicant-induced sickness. In subsequent tests for generalization of the learned aversions, avoidance of red was generalized broadly to other shades of red, whereas avoid- ance of green appeared to be relatively stimulus specific. In Experiment 2, we pre-exposed Red-wings to a single shade of red or green in a feeding context for 4 days. Then the birds were conditioned as in Experiment 1 and tested for expression of learned color aversions. Although pre-exposure weakened expression of aversions to both colors, such effects were more pronounced for green. The effects were greater for birds pre-exposed to the condi- tioning color in close association with the food than for birds pre-exposed to the condition- ing color away from food. Generalization of conditioned aversions and resistance to the effects of pre-exposure may reflect adaptations of Red-wings for prey selection. It would appear adaptive for birds to generalize avoidance learning broadly for conspicuously col- ored, noxious prey and to exhibit such learning regardless of prior experience with the color. Conversely, because few cryptically colored (e.g. green) prey are noxious, it would be adap- tive for learning to be specific for the noxious individuals alone. Finally, we believe that the generalization of learned aversions could serve as a useful criterion in selecting appro- priate color stimuli for use in bird control (i.e. repellency) and that the methods presented here could provide one empirical means of assessing such generalizations. Received 24 June 1982, accepted 3 January 1983.
