The Role of Marks in Food Storing Behavior of the Varied Tit Parus varius

Abstract

Food storing behaviour in birds can be divided into two components: food caching behavior and food recovering behavior. In this study we investigated on the food recovering behavior of the Varied Tit Parus varius, which has a food storing habit, by using a psychological procedure of learning. Three individuals of Varied Tits from the same clutch were used for testing. After they have learned the maked place of hidden seeds, six types of tests were conducted: two tests were done.by, moving the mark place to another place.(Tost I and II), two tests by adding extra marks around the original place (Test III and IV), a test with a mark on every door (Test V), and a test without any mark (Test VI). In test I and II, 78.5% of the 144 responses were directed to the place where the mark was moved.In Test III and IV, 97.2% of the 35 responses were directed to the places with marks. In Test V and VI, the responses were scattered to many places and no preference to the original place was observed. These results suggest that marks play an important role in Varied Tits to remember the place where food was stored.