Effects of method of presentation and fluid deprivation upon drinking of sucrose and saline solutions by pigeons

Abstract

In a comparison of different measures of sucrose and saline solution drinking in domestic pigeons, three factors (single stimulus vs two-bottle “choice”, test period length, and fluid deprivational state) explain the discrepancies in the shape of the saline intake functions obtained in previous studies but do not account for the failure of domestic pigeons in this experiment to display a sucrose preference. Pigeons can make quantitative discriminations between sucrose solutions differing in concentration and qualitative discriminations between isosmotic saline and sucrose solutions. The rapidity with which the birds can make these distinctions suggests the importance of orosensory cues although postingestive consequences function in the development of the pigeons' aversion to hypertonic sucrose solutions.