Seasonal variation in pigeon body weight and delayed matching-to-sample performance.
The weights of 5 pigeons with free access to food, monitored over 3 calendar years in the laboratory, were found to fluctuate with season. All pigeons were at their heaviest in the winter and were lightest in the summer. Five different pigeons performed a standard delayed matching-to-sample task for 44 weeks from January to November. Their weights were held at 85% of their summer free-feeding weights, making their predicted deprivation level higher in the winter relative to predicted winter free-feeding weights. Slopes of forgetting functions fit to weekly response totals for each pigeon were shallower in winter, showing an improvement in accuracy with longer delays. Thus, delayed matching-to-sample performance may have been affected by the practice of maintaining the pigeons at a constant body weight throughout the calendar year.
University of Otago, New Zealand.
Rebecca J
RJ
Sargisson
Ian G
IG
McLean
Glenn S
GS
Brown
K Geoffrey
KG
White
D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight; D010856:Columbidae; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D005508:Food Deprivation; D008297:Male; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D012621:Seasons