AVIS-IBIS

Birds of Indian Subcontinent

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
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