Abstract
When presented with resources that differ in quantity, many animals use a
numerosity system to discriminate between them. One taxonomically
widespread system is the approximate number system. This is a numerosity
system that allows the rapid evaluation of the number of objects in a
group and which is regulated by Weber’s Law. Here we investigated
whether wild, free-living rufous hummingbirds (Selasphorus rufus)
possess an approximate number system. The hummingbirds were presented
with two experiments. In the first we investigated whether hummingbirds
spontaneously chose an array containing more flowers than an alternate
array. In the second we asked whether the hummingbirds could learn to
use numerosity as a cue to which of two arrays contained the better
reward. The birds did not spontaneously prefer an array containing more
flowers. After minimal training, however, they learned to choose the
more numerous array and could differentiate between arrays of five and
seven flowers. These data support the presence of an approximate number
system in the rufous hummingbird. It seems plausible that having such a
system would enable much more efficient foraging in this species.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 67–75 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Learning and Behavior |
Volume | 49 |
Issue number | 1 |
Early online date | 14 Dec 2020 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Mar 2021 |
Keywords
- Approximate number system
- Foraging
- Numerosity
- Rufous hummingbird
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Estimating on the fly: the approximate number system in rufous hummingbirds (Selasphorus rufus)
Corliss, M. (Contributor), Brown, T. (Contributor), Hurly, T. A. (Contributor), Healy, S. D. (Contributor) & Tello-Ramos, M. C. (Contributor), Dryad, 5 Jan 2021
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