The interplay between cognition and ecology in extractive foraging behaviours

Foraging successfully requires cognitive abilities across both ecological and social domains and is considered an important driver of enhanced cognitive skills. Extractive foraging – the extraction and processing of embedded or encased food like arthropods, nuts and eggs – requires intensive object-manipulation.  Animals have evolved both morphological (e.g. multi-purpose beak in parrots) and behavioural adaptations (e.g. tool use, dropping nuts) to access these otherwise inaccessible food items.  The cognitive processes and ecological significance of foraging with tools have been well studied, while extractive foraging without tools is understudied.

To fill this knowledge gap, we will investigate the ontogeny of these behaviours, the underlying cognitive mechanisms, individual differences and the ecological significance of extractive foraging without tools in two complementary systems: Sulphur-crested cockatoos in Australia, which use their specialised beaks to open a variety of hard-shelled seeds, and carrion and hooded crows in and around Vienna, which open walnuts by either pecking them open or dropping them onto hard surfaces so that they crack open. The aim of our work is to investigate how complex cognitive abilities evolve within and between species over evolutionary time and why species differ in their cognitive abilities and in their reliance on foraging by extraction.

Publications

Showing entries 1 - 4 out of 4
Klump B. Sexy tools: Individual differences in drumming tool shape. Learning & Behavior. 2024 Dec;52(4):287-288. doi: 10.3758/s13420-023-00620-1
Klump BC. Tool use promotes dental health: Using tools increases foraging success in sea otters and protects their teeth from damage. Science. 2024 May 16;384(6697):740-741. doi: 10.1126/science.adp4375
Smeele SQ, Tyndel SA, Klump BC, Alarcón-Nieto G, Aplin LM. callsync: An R package for alignment and analysis of multi-microphone animal recordings. Ecology and Evolution. 2024 May;14(5):e11384. doi: 10.1002/ece3.11384
Penndorf J, Ewart KM, Klump BC, Martin JM, Aplin LM. Social network analysis reveals context-dependent kin relationships in wild sulphur-crested cockatoos Cacatua galerita. Journal of Animal Ecology. 2023 Jan 4;92(1):171-182. doi: 10.1111/1365-2656.13839
Showing entries 1 - 4 out of 4

Presentations

Conferences

  • 04/2024 - National Geographic Explorer Meet-up, online (speaker)
  • 02/2024 - Annual Meeting of the Ethologische Gesellschaft, Münster, Germany (plenary)
  • 08/2023 - European Ornithologists’ Union Conference, Lund, Sweden (invited talk)
  • 08/2023 - Behaviour Conference, Bielefeld, Germany (speaker)

Science to science

  • 03/2024 - Forschungsinstitut für Wildtierkunde und Ökologie, Austria (speaker)
  • 03/2024 - Veterinärmedizinische Universität Wien, Austria (speaker)
  • 04/2023 - University of Copenhagen, Denmark (speaker)

Science to public

  • 02/2024 - Tiergarten Schönbrunn, Austria (invited public lecture) 
  • 02/2024 - Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Karlsruhe, Germany (invited public lecture)
  • 11/2023 - Film & Talk – panel discussion about the new movie ‘Crows’
  • 09/2023 - Konrad Lorenz Research Station – Biologicum Almtal, Austria (invited talk)

Media

Funder: www.wwtf.at