Premium
AN AUTOMATIC PELLET DISPENSER FOR PRECISE CONTROL OF FEEDING TOPOGRAPHY IN GRANIVOROUS BIRDS
Author(s) -
Berkhoudt H.,
Reijden D.,
Heijmans M.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
journal of the experimental analysis of behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.75
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1938-3711
pISSN - 0022-5002
DOI - 10.1901/jeab.1987.48-435
Subject(s) - pellet , pellets , biology , computer science , zoology , paleontology
Design and construction of an automatic pellet dispenser for granivorous birds are described. The dispenser permits rapid pneumatic delivery of pellets (five pellets per second maximum) to one controlled position and does not interfere with simultaneous electrophysiological recording. In addition, the device continuously indicates presence or absence of a pellet in the delivery position. This automatic dispenser proved very effective in our studies of stereotyped topographies of feeding in granivorous birds, such as pigeons and chickens.