Abstract
Predation on eggs affects the population dynamics of many bird species throughout the world. We investigated whether Conditioned Taste Aversion (CTA) can be used to decrease predation on bird eggs by rats. Conditioned taste aversion occurs when an animal associates the taste of a particular food with illness and subsequently avoids consuming that food. On Day 1 of the experiment (conditioning test), laboratory rats (Rottus norvegicus) were presented with either chicken (Callus gallus) or quail (Coturnix coturnix) eggs and 30 minutes later administered with the CTA-inducing agent thiabendazole. In 8 post-conditioning tests over the following 3 weeks, rats were offered either the same egg type they received on conditioning day or a different egg type. Results showed that conditioning induced a strong aversion to eggs. Across all post-conditioning tests, treated rats took 2.7 times longer than control rats to start eating an egg. In the same period, treated rats spent 39% less time than control rats eating eggs and ate 34% fewer eggs than control rats. Thiabendazole was equally effective in inducing CTA to chicken and quail eggs, and the aversion transferred to different egg types.
Published Version
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call