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1. Corvids (e.g. jays, crows, ravens) store food ( = caching). Pinyon jays (PJ; blue) and Clark’s nutcrackers (NC; grey) hide thousands of pine seeds to survive during winter/spring. Cachers need to remember where their food is and prevent others from stealing it. #AnimBehav2021
2. PJs are highly social (group of up to 400 jays) and NCs are solitary. Hence, PJs are always surrounded by others when caching, but NCs rarely are. How does this difference in sociality influence their caching behaviour? #AnimBehav2021
3. We compared caching behaviour of PJs and NCs (n = 10 for each sp.) in four different conditions and examined number and locations of food cached (safe tray: food is left intact VS risky tray: food can be stolen). @DebbieKellyLab @ClaryNutcracker #AnimBehav2021
4. PJs preferentially cache their food in the safe tray when observed by PJs and by NCs. PJs view observers (both PJs & NCs) as a threat and change their behaviour to maximise the amount of food cached in challenging social situations. #AnimBehav2021
5. NCs reduce the food they cache, but only when observed by other NCs. Since they are solitary, occasional reduction in caching don’t affect their overall amount of food cached. They don’t view PJ observers as a threat. #AnimBehav2021
6. Species differences in caching behaviour can be explained by sociality. Also, PJs may be better at adjusting their behaviour based on social context, as they change their behaviour when observed by individual from a different species. #AnimBehav2021
