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Home ยป Conditioned Aversion as a Tool to Protect Eggs from Avian Predators in Heron Colonies
Conditioned Aversion as a Tool to Protect Eggs from Avian Predators in Heron Colonies
Publication Type: | Journal Article |
Year of Publication: | 1998 |
Authors: | Bogliani, G, Bellinato, F |
Journal: | Colonial Waterbirds |
Volume: | 21 |
Issue: | 1 |
Date Published: | 1998 |
ISBN Number: | 07386028 |
Keywords: | Ardea garzetta, Ardeidae, Egretta, Egretta garzetta, Gallus, Gallus gallus, Nycticorax, Nycticorax nycticorax, Phasianidae |
Abstract: | We used the cholinergic-agonist carbamyl choline chloride (Carbachol) to induce conditioned aversion to rare eggs in predators. We used chicken (Gallus gallus) eggs for the experiment, dyeing treated eggs greenish-brown and dyeing untreated eggs light blue to simulate the eggs of the Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) and the Little Egret (Egretta garzetta), the main species breeding in the study heronry. After ten days from the beginning of the experiment, treated eggs were significantly less preyed upon than untreated eggs; and by the 12th day no treated eggs were preyed upon, while control eggs still were. This technique may be used to protect the eggs of uncommon birds, aiding their survival and increasing small local populations. We suggest some guide-lines to successfully induce adverse conditioning in similar environmental situations. |
URL: | http://www.jstor.org/stable/1521733 |
Short Title: | Colonial Waterbirds |
Scratchpads developed and conceived by (alphabetical):
Ed Baker,
Katherine Bouton
Alice Heaton
Dimitris Koureas,
Laurence Livermore,
Dave Roberts,
Simon Rycroft,
Ben Scott,
Vince Smith