Data from: Reactions of captive adult great tits towards aposematic prey: Effects of personality
Data files
Dec 31, 2025 version files 7.65 KB
-
firebug.csv
2.01 KB
-
handling.csv
786 B
-
mealworm.csv
2.13 KB
-
README.md
2.72 KB
Abstract
Individual variation in reactions to novel aposematic prey is common in avian predators. In wild adults, this variation may be caused by differences among individuals in experience with various prey, but similar variation exists in naive juveniles, and this is linked to personality – a complex of correlated, partly heritable behavioral traits that are consistent across time. Along the extremes on an axis of early exploratory behavior in great tits (Parus major), fast explorers are bold, aggressive, and routine-forming, whereas slow explorers are shy, less aggressive, and more innovative. We tested the effect of personality on innate wariness towards aposematic prey in adult hand-reared great tits from two lines selected for opposite levels of early exploratory behavior (fast versus slow). The birds were offered aposematic firebugs (Pyrrhocoris apterus) over two days. Birds from both selection lines showed a similar degree of innate wariness towards the firebugs on the first day, but on the second day, fast explorers approached the firebugs significantly faster and more frequently than slow birds. Whether the birds attacked the firebugs was also dependent on their personality. Thus, personality-related individual differences in reactions of great tits towards the aposematic prey were maintained in the adult life stage.
For more details, contact: Dana Adamová, Department of Environmental Security, Faculty of Logistics and Crisis Management, Tomas Bata University in Zlín, Studentské nám. 1532, 68601 Uherské Hradiště, Czech Republic, adamova.jezova@gmail.com
Date of data collection: 1.11.2007 - 19.11.2007
Geographic location of data collection: Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Heteren, 51.9560739N, 5.7573625E (all experiments were carried out indoors)
Information about funding sources that supported the collection and curation of the data: The work was supported by the Czech Science Foundation (grant number 206/07/0507) and Creativity, Intelligence & Talent for the Zlín Region.
The study shows that personality influences how adult great tits react to warning-colored (aposematic) prey. Even though all birds were cautious at first, fast-exploring, bold individuals approached the prey more quickly and often than slow, shy, and more innovative birds on the second day. This demonstrates that individual differences in behavior, linked to personality, persist into adulthood and affect interactions with potentially dangerous prey.
DATA FILES AND VARIABLES
1. mealworm.csv
- personality_line: S (slow line), F (fast line)
- birdcode: individual code of the tested bird
- idbird: bird identification
- day: 1 (first day of test), 2 (second day of test)
- sex: M (male), F (female)
- age_in_month: age in months
- age_in_years: age in years
- approach_latency: latency (in seconds) to approach the mealworm
2. firebug.csv
- personality_line: S (slow line), F (fast line)
- birdcode: individual code of the tested bird
- idbird: bird identification
- day: 1 (first day of test), 2 (second day of test)
- sex: M (male), F (female)
- age_in_month: age in months
- age_in_years: age in years
- approach_latency: latency (in seconds) to approach Firebug
- approaches_per_session: number of approaches to Firebug per session
3. handling.csv
- personality_line: S (slow line), F (fast line)
- birdcode: individual code of the tested bird
- idbird: bird identification
- day: 1 (first day of test), 2 (second day of test)
- sex: M (male), F (female)
- age_in_month: age in months
- age_in_years: age in years
- firebug_attacked: 1 (bird attacked firebug), 0 (bird did notattackd firebug)
Code/Software
Software name and version: R version 4.4.2
Loaded packages:
- package: dplyr version 1.1.4
• package: ggplot2 version 3.3.2
• package: lme4 version 1.1-19
• package: car version 3.0-7
- software name and version: R Studio version 1.3.1073