From neurons to nests: nest-building behaviour as a model in behavioural and comparative neuroscience.

Zachary J. Hall,Simone L. Meddle,Susan D. Healy

doi:10.1007/s10336-015-1214-5

Zachary J. Hall, Simone L. Meddle + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-015-1214-5

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Abstract

Despite centuries of observing the nest building of most extant bird species, we know surprisingly little about how birds build nests and, specifically, how the avian brain controls nest building. Here, we argue that nest building in birds may be a useful model behaviour in which to study how the brain controls behaviour. Specifically, we argue that nest building as a behavioural model provides a unique opportunity to study not only the mechanisms through which the brain controls behaviour within individuals of a single species but also how evolution may have shaped the brain to produce interspecific variation in nest-building behaviour. In this review, we outline the questions in both behavioural and comparative neuroscience that nest building could be used to address, summarize recent findings regarding the neurobiology of nest building in lab-reared zebra finches and across species building different nest structures, and suggest some future directions for the neurobiology of nest building.

Highlights

Of all the constructions made by animals, perhaps none are as widely recognizable as the nests built by birds
We outline the questions in both behavioural and comparative neuroscience that nest building could be used to address, summarize recent findings regarding the neurobiology of nest building in labreared zebra finches and across species building different nest structures, and suggest some future directions for the neurobiology of nest building
From the gigantic mound nest of the Mallefowl Leipoa ocellata, in which eggs are incubated by the heat released from decaying wet vegetation buried within the nest (Frith 1959), to the cup-shaped nest of the Little Spiderhunter Arachnothera longirostra that is suspended from the underside of a banana leaf by strands of knotted vegetable fibres and spider silk forced upwards through the leaf to act as makeshift pop rivets (Hansell 2005), the nest building of birds has long fascinated us

Summary

Introduction

Of all the constructions made by animals, perhaps none are as widely recognizable as the nests built by birds. Comparing the neural substrates involved in nest building to those identified using the typical sequence training paradigms would, increase our understanding of how the brain organizes motor sequences across different timescales and action repertoires.

Results

Conclusion