Parental food provisioning and nestling growth under Philornis downsi parasitism in the Galapagos Green Warbler-Finch, classified as 'vulnerable' by the IUCN.

In the Galapagos Islands, many endemic landbird populations are declining due to habitat degradation, food availability, introduced species and other factors. Given nestlings typically lack efficient defense mechanisms against parasites, hematophagous ectoparasites such as the larvae of the introduced Avian Vampire Fly, Philornis downsi, can impose high brood mortality and cause threatening population declines in Darwin finches and other landbirds. Here, we assess whether the food compensation hypothesis (i.e., the parents' potential to compensate for deleterious parasite effects via increased food provisioning) applies to the Green Warbler-Finch. We differentiated nests with low or high infestation levels by P. downsi and quantified food provisioning rates of male and female parents, time females spent brooding nestlings, and nestling growth. Male provisioning rates, total provisioning rates and female brooding time did not significantly vary in relation to infestation levels, nor by the number of nestlings. Opposed to the predictions of the food compensation hypothesis, females showed significantly reduced provisioning rates at high infestation levels. Nestling body mass was significantly lower and there was a reduction of skeletal growth, although not significantly, in highly infested nests. The females' response to high infestation may be due to parasites directly attacking and weakening brooding females, or else that females actively reduce current reproductive effort in favor of future reproduction. This life-history trade-off may be typical for Darwin finches and many tropical birds with long lifespans and therefore high residual reproductive value. Conservation strategies may not build on the potential for parental food compensation by this species

Invasive parasites habitat change and heavy rainfall reduce breeding success in Darwin's finches

Invasive alien parasites and pathogens are a growing threat to biodiversity worldwide, which can contribute to the extinction of endemic species. On the Galápagos Islands, the invasive parasitic fly Philornis downsi poses a major threat to the endemic avifauna. Here, we investigated the influence of this parasite on the breeding success of two Darwin's finch species, the warbler finch (Certhidea olivacea) and the sympatric small tree finch (Camarhynchus parvulus), on Santa Cruz Island in 2010 and 2012. While the population of the small tree finch appeared to be stable, the warbler finch has experienced a dramatic decline in population size on Santa Cruz Island since 1997. We aimed to identify whether warbler finches are particularly vulnerable during different stages of the breeding cycle. Contrary to our prediction, breeding success was lower in the small tree finch than in the warbler finch. In both species P. downsi had a strong negative impact on breeding success and our data suggest that heavy rain events also lowered the fledging success. On the one hand parents might be less efficient in compensating their chicks' energy loss due to parasitism as they might be less efficient in foraging on days of heavy rain. On the other hand, intense rainfalls might lead to increased humidity and more rapid cooling of the nests. In the case of the warbler finch we found that the control of invasive plant species with herbicides had a significant additive negative impact on the breeding success. It is very likely that the availability of insects (i.e. food abundance) is lower in such controlled areas, as herbicide usage led to the removal of the entire understory. Predation seems to be a minor factor in brood loss

Cognitive abilities related to tool use in the woodpecker finch, Cactospiza pallida

Woodpecker finches are famous for their spontaneous tool use behaviour in the wild. They use twigs or cactus spines to pry arthropods out of crevices and use this ability more than any other tool-using species known. We experimentally investigated the cognitive abilities related to tool use. We chose three experimental designs that have been used to test several primate species (trap tube task and modification task) and New Caledonian crows (tool length task). One of six woodpecker finches was able to solve the trap tube task, and several individuals modified tools and chose twigs of appropriate length. Most subjects mastered these new tasks quickly, but we found no evidence that they were able to assess the problems in advance. These findings resemble those obtained for primates in these tasks. (C) 2003 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.</p

Investigating Physical Cognition in Rooks Corvus frugilegus

Although animals (particularly tool-users) are capable of solving physical tasks in the laboratory [1-7], the degree to which they understand them in terms of their underlying physical forces is a matter of contention. Here, using a new paradigm, the two-trap tube task, we report the performance of non-tool-using rooks. In contrast to the low success rates of previous studies using trap-tube problems [1-4], seven out of eight rooks solved the initial task, and did so rapidly. Instead of the usual, conceptually flawed [8] control, we used a series of novel transfer tasks to test for understanding. All seven transferred their solution across a change in stimuli. However, six out of seven were unable to transfer to two further tasks, which did not share any one visual constant. One female was able to solve these further transfer tasks. Her result is suggestive evidence that rooks are capable of sophisticated physical cognition, if not through an understanding of unobservable forces [3, 9], perhaps through rule abstraction. Our results highlight the need to investigate cognitive mechanisms other than causal understanding in studying animal physical cognition.</p

Coping with Uncertainty: Woodpecker Finches (<i>Cactospiza pallida</i>) from an Unpredictable Habitat Are More Flexible than Birds from a Stable Habitat

<div><p>Behavioural flexibility is thought to be a major factor in evolution. It may facilitate the discovery and exploitation of new resources, which in turn may expose populations to novel selective forces and facilitate adaptive radiation. Darwin's finches are a textbook example of adaptive radiation. They are fast learners and show a range of unusual foraging techniques, probably as a result of their flexibility. In this study we aimed to test whether variability of the environment is correlated with flexibility. We compared woodpecker finches from a dry area (hereafter, Arid Zone), where food availability is variable, with individuals from a cloud forest (hereafter, <i>Scalesia</i> zone) where food abundance is stable. As parameters for flexibility, we measured neophilia and neophobia, which are two aspects of reaction to novelty, reversal learning and problem-solving. We found no differences in performance on a problem-solving task but, in line with our prediction, individuals from the Arid Zone were significantly faster reversal learners and more neophilic than their conspecifics from the <i>Scalesia</i> zone. The latter result supports the notion that environmental variability drives flexibility. In contrast to our prediction, Arid Zone birds were even more neophobic than birds from the <i>Scalesia</i> Zone. The latter result could be the consequence of differences in predation pressure between the two vegetation zones.</p></div

Exploration and ecology in Darwin’s finches

One of the main functions of exploratory behaviour is to gain information about the environment. The adaptive value of such behaviour should vary with ecological conditions influencing the diversity and stability of resources, as well as with the costs associated with gathering information. Consequently, predictions can be made about environmental factors influencing the evolution of exploration. We used comparative methods, combining a field experiment with literature data, to study correlated evolution between explorative behaviour and ecology among 13 species of Darwin’s finches. Controlling for phylogenetic influences, we found that exploration (measured as the proportion of individuals responding in the experiment) increased with diet diversity and the amount of fruit in diet, consistent with theories stating that exploration aimed at finding new food types should be more beneficial for generalists than for specialists. However, our study is the first to demonstrate a correlation between neophilia and food diversity. Contrary to our prediction, species with a high percentage of concealed food in their diet were less explorative. A possible explanation for this novel finding is that in our study system concealed food may be a stable resource, and species using such resources should be less dependent on the discovery of new food types

The tale of the finch: adaptive radiation and behavioural flexibility

Darwin's finches are a classic example of adaptive radiation. The ecological diversity of the Galápagos in part explains that radiation, but the fact that other founder species did not radiate suggests that other factors are also important. One hypothes

Measured parameters of the box opening task for woodpecker finches from the Arid and the <i>Scalesia</i> Zone.

<p>Median and range are given for latency to first contact, number of contacts with the box and latency to success (obtaining the reward).</p

Latencies (s) to feed in the control condition (familiar feeding dish) and when a tissue package or loudspeaker were present.

<p>Median and range are given.</p