Impressionable young birds pick up style tips from their elders just like humans and ‘feather their nests’ with coloured materials they associate with older trendsetters.
Experts set out to see if birds might prefer to build nests of the same colour as the one they hatched in, or whether juvenile experiences were more important.
They found that finches who spent time around both an adult and nest material of a given colour as juveniles went on to prefer that colour material for their first nests.
This held true even if that material was of a different colour to the nest in which they had hatched — suggesting that the birds forge key associations as juveniles.
However, birds that did not have access to materials as a youth or did not spend time around an adult did not develop the same preference — and built nests slower.
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Impressionable young birds pick up style tips from their elders just like humans and ‘feather their nests’ with coloured materials they associate with older trendsetters
‘Which environmental “ingredients” are needed, and when, for animals to acquire technological know-how is a major outstanding question,’ said paper author and biologist Alexis Breen of the University of St Andrews.
‘Establishing links between the early-life environment and one of the most widespread forms of animal material technology — nest-building in birds — was therefore very exciting.’
To study these links, the researchers carefully controlled the environment of developing zebra finches.
They had different birds hatch in a nest of one unnatural colour and subsequently — once they had grown and left the nest — each juvenile bird was ‘buddied up’ with another of a similar age.
Some of the juvenile pairs were then allowed to spend time around a nesting material of a different unnatural colour to the nest that they had hatched in, while some were not.
At the same time, some of the pairs were allowed to spend time with an unrelated adult zebra finch, while — again — others did not. When together, the adult birds would poke and prod the material (if present), although they did not build nests.
Finally, when the juveniles had matured fully, they were allowed to build their very own nests and were given a choice of three materials.
These included materials of a natural colour, of the colour of the nest they hatched in and, finally, of the colour they may or may not have been exposed to when young.
‘By manipulating their juvenile socio-ecological environment, we could test if, as a consequence, zebra finches built their first nest differently,’ said paper author and biologist Lauren Guillette of the Universities of St Andrews and Alberta.
‘Using different material colours allowed us to also determine if birds model their choice of nesting material on the nest experienced as a chick, or on the material they encountered as a juvenile after leaving their nest.’
To study these links, the researchers had different birds hatch in a nest of one unnatural colour (such as pink or orange, pictured) and subsequently — once they had grown and left the nest — each juvenile bird was ‘buddied up’ with another of a similar age. Some of the juvenile pairs were then allowed to spend time around a nesting material of a different unnatural colour to the nest that they had hatched in, while some were not
The team found that the bird’s experiences as a juvenile were formative when it came to later selecting the materials to make their first nests.
Birds that had spent time around a particular coloured material as a juvenile when in the presence of an adult went on to later exhibit a preference towards using that material to build their first — choosing it 75 per cent of the time.
They even preferred this colour over that of the nest in which they hatched.
However, this inclination only appeared when the birds had spent time with that material and an adult — and did not develop the same preference if only the adult, the material, or neither had been present in their juvenile stages.
‘By manipulating their juvenile socio-ecological environment, we could test if, as a consequence, zebra finches built their first nest differently,’ said paper author and biologist Lauren Guillette of the Universities of St Andrews and Alberta
‘Together, these results show that juvenile zebra finches combine relevant social and ecological cues — here, adult presence and material colour — when developing their material preference,’ Dr Breen said.
Curiously, the team found that the strength of the colour preference did not increase based on how much interaction the juveniles saw the adult having with the coloured material.
In fact, the team think that it is possible the adult need only be seen near the nesting material to trigger an association with it — certainly, ‘the adults didn’t need to do much,’ Dr Breen told MailOnline.
‘These results show that juvenile zebra finches combine relevant social and ecological cues when developing their material preference,’ Dr Breen said
The researchers also found that the juvenile’s experiences impacted the speed at which they would later build their first nest.
Young finches without access to an adult or a material of a given colour were later between three to four times slower at building nests in comparison to those given access to an adult or the coloured material when they were young.
‘That’s a considerable reduction in speed,’ noted Dr Guillette.
With their initial study complete, the researchers are now looking to find out exactly how much the adult birds need to be seen interacting with the colour material to leave an impression on the juvenile birds.
They are also looking to see if colour preference can be passed on down the generations to form a kind-of ‘material culture.’
The full findings of the study were published in the journal Behavioral Ecology.