Crows cross-modally recognize group members but not non-group members.
Recognizing other individuals by integrating different sensory modalities is a crucial ability of social animals, including humans. Although cross-modal individual recognition has been demonstrated in mammals, the extent of its use by birds remains unknown. Herein, we report the first evidence of cross-modal recognition of group members by a highly social bird, the large-billed crow (Corvus macrorhynchos). A cross-modal expectancy violation paradigm was used to test whether crows were sensitive to identity congruence between visual presentation of a group member and the subsequent playback of a contact call. Crows looked more rapidly and for a longer duration when the visual and auditory stimuli were incongruent than when congruent. Moreover, these responses were not observed with non-group member stimuli. These results indicate that crows spontaneously associate visual and auditory information of group members but not of non-group members, which is a demonstration of cross-modal audiovisual recognition of group members in birds.
Department of Psychology, Keio University, Mita 2-15-45, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8345, Japan. nrk.kondo@gmail.com
Noriko
N
Kondo
Ei-Ichi
E
Izawa
Shigeru
S
Watanabe
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000819:Animal Communication; D000818:Animals; D046368:Crows / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006608:Hierarchy, Social; D008297:Male; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D021641:Recognition, Psychology; D012919:Social Behavior