FINDING HIDDEN FOOD - BEHAVIOR ON VISIBLE DISPLACEMENT TASKS BY MYNAHS (GRACULA-RELIGIOSA) AND PIGEONS (COLUMBA-LIVIA)

Four visible displacement tasks showed that pigeons can learn to find hidden food but revealed little evidence of spontaneous retrieval. In Experiment 1, given a choice between 2 screens, 1 of which concealed f ood, pigeons performed at chance level. In Experiment 2, when shown a moving cart of grain that disappeared into a tunnel and reemerged, the y spontaneously followed the cart if the tunnel was clear but not if i t was opaque. After learning to follow the cart, they would follow it when it was filled with grit. In Experiment 3, pigeons were rewarded f or pecking at a key when a horizontally moving figure disappeared behi nd an occluder. Performance was characterized by a time-waiting rule. Experiment 4 describes a species comparison in finding food hidden in 1 of 4 compartments: As predicted from ecological considerations, myna hs performed better than pigeons.