Social plasticity across contexts in bobwhite quail

Sanjay Prasher, Elizabeth A. Hobson

An animal’s social network centrality has been linked to social benefits. However, the inverse effect of providing benefits to conspecifics on one’s centrality has received less attention. We investigated effects of foraging success, and accompanying food access provided to others, on an individual’s relationships in multiple social contexts using three captive groups of bobwhite quail (Colinus virginianus). The experiment used a novel automated feeder and included Phase 1 where the feeder was programmed to release food for any bird, Phase 2 where only one bird (producer) was able to release food from the feeder, and Phase 3 where all birds had access again. Individual RFID detection data recorded by the feeder were used to build networks reflecting interactions in which one bird followed another to the feeder. Temporal permutations of interactions showed the producer was followed significantly more in Phase 2 compared to Phase 1, but following interactions largely decreased after the producer lost its special access to the feeder in Phase 3. Our results suggest quail can display adaptive social plasticity, are sensitive to short-term changes in the benefits provided by others and may adjust their interactions in multiple social contexts in response to changes in a foraging context.