title: The development of stereotypic behavior in caged European starlings, Sturnus vulgaris.
abstract: Stereotypic behavior in captive animals has been hypothesized to emerge from thwarted natural behavior patterns and is thought to be more common in captive-reared animals. However, data on the early stages of developing stereotypies are currently scarce. We compared the development of stereotypic route-tracing and somersaulting in hand-reared and wild-caught starlings placed in individual cages for the first time. We found that wild-caught birds were less active but showed more escape motivation and more evidence of route-tracing behavior. Furthermore, somersaulting was only observed in wild-caught birds. Development of somersaulting was predicted by subtle differences in behavior during the first few days in cages and developed in individuals with low levels of route-tracing behavior. Our data suggest a role for escape motivation in the development of starling stereotypies and additionally that route-tracing and somersaulting may represent alternative outlets for thwarted escape. In contrast to observations from mammals, our results show that stereotypies are more common in wild-caught starlings.
authors: Centre for Behaviour and Evolution, Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, Henry Wellcome Building for Neuroecology, Framlington Place, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 4HH, UK.
authors: Gesa
authors: G
authors: Feenders
authors: Melissa
authors: M
authors: Bateson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D046749:Starlings / Q000502:physiology*; D013239:Stereotyped Behavior / Q000502:physiology*