title: Object caching in corvids: incidence and significance.
abstract: Food caching is a paramount model for studying relations between cognition, brain organisation and ecology in corvids. In contrast, behaviour towards inedible objects is poorly examined and understood. We review the literature on object caching in corvids and other birds, and describe an exploratory study on object caching in ravens, New Caledonian crows and jackdaws. The captive adult birds were presented with an identical set of novel objects adjacent to food. All three species cached objects, which shows the behaviour not to be restricted to juveniles, food cachers, tool-users or individuals deprived of cacheable food. The pattern of object interaction and caching did not mirror the incidence of food caching: the intensely food caching ravens indeed showed highest object caching incidence, but the rarely food caching jackdaws cached objects to similar extent as the moderate food caching New Caledonian crows. Ravens and jackdaws preferred objects with greater sphericity, but New Caledonian crows preferred stick-like objects (similar to tools). We suggest that the observed object caching might have been expressions of exploration or play, and deserves being studied in its own right because of its potential significance for tool-related behaviour and learning, rather than as an over-spill from food-caching research. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: CO3 2013.
authors: Department of Cognitive Science, Lund University, Kungshuset, Lundagård, 222 22 Lund, Sweden. Electronic address: ivo.jacobs@lucs.lu.se.
authors: Ivo F
authors: IF
authors: Jacobs
authors: Department of Cognitive Science, Lund University, Kungshuset, Lundagård, 222 22 Lund, Sweden.
authors: Mathias
authors: M
authors: Osvath
authors: Department of Cognitive Science, Lund University, Kungshuset, Lundagård, 222 22 Lund, Sweden.
authors: Helena
authors: H
authors: Osvath
authors: Department of Behavioural Ecology and Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Eberhard-Gwinner-Straße, 82319 Seewiesen, Germany.
authors: Berenika
authors: B
authors: Mioduszewska
authors: Department of Behavioural Ecology and Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Eberhard-Gwinner-Straße, 82319 Seewiesen, Germany; Behavioural Ecology Research Group, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Park Road, OX1 3PS Oxford, UK.
authors: Auguste M P
authors: AM
authors: von Bayern
authors: Behavioural Ecology Research Group, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Park Road, OX1 3PS Oxford, UK.
authors: Alex
authors: A
authors: Kacelnik
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D046368:Crows / Q000502:physiology*; D005106:Exploratory Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005502:Food; D008297:Male
keywords: Corvids; Exploration; Food caching; Object caching; Play