A behavioral analysis of prey detection lateralization and unilateral transfer in European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris)

Abstract

It has been suggested that birds prefer to use a particular eye while learning to detect cryptic prey and that this eye preference enhances foraging performance. European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) with the left, right, or both eyes available learned to detect inconspicuous cues associated with the presence of hidden prey. Acquisition scores were not significantly different between left and right-eyed birds; however, performance in the binocular condition was significantly higher than in the two monocular conditions. When binocular birds were tested with familiar and unfamiliar cues present simultaneously, the familiar cue was selected significantly more often than the unfamiliar cue, suggesting that the birds were searching for specific cue features. When monocular birds were tested using only the naïve eye, performance dropped significantly. In right-eyed birds using the naïve left eye, performance remained at chance levels over transfer trials. However, left-eyed birds using the naïve right eye had a superior performance compared to the initial acquisition scores of right-eyed birds and also showed a significant improvement in performance over transfer trials. Thus, although there was no direct evidence of lateralization during acquisition, there was unilateral transfer of the prey detection skill from the right to the left hemisphere.