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Species‐specific auditory discrimination in bobtail quail neonates
Author(s) -
Barrow Heaton Marieta,
Miller David B.,
Goodwin Donna G.
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
developmental psychobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.055
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1098-2302
pISSN - 0012-1630
DOI - 10.1002/dev.420110106
Subject(s) - quail , biology , psychology , zoology , communication , ecology
Incubator‐hatched bobwhite quail neonates were tested individually in a variety of single call and simultaneous auditory choice tests involving 6 adult quail vocalizations and a chicken exodus call. The quail showed a high degree of responsiveness (100%) to 3 adult quail vocalizations and significantly less responsiveness (40–50%) to 3 other quail calls and to the chicken exodus call in single call tests. In simultaneous choice tests, the quail were selectively responsive to a call of their own species over the chicken call, and they also showed certain intraspecific preferences. Because of their high degree of responsiveness, coupled with the selectivity of their approach responses, bobwhite quail neonates are ideal for the laboratory investigation of the development of auditory perception.