BEHAVIORAL TYPES AND SYNDROMES IN THE NEOTROPICAL PASSERINE BLUE-BLACK GRASSQUIT (Volatinia jacarina)

Abstract

Recent studies focusing on animal personality have been limited to model species found mainly in temperate regions. Selection pressures upon tropical species differ markedly from those of temperate regions (e.g., higher predation, prolonged breeding seasons) and may influence the evolution of behavioral syndromes. We investigated animal personality using a Neotropical bird model Volatinia jacarina and tested for the presence of behavioral types and a context-general behavioral syndrome. Birds were captured in the field, held in captivity and tested for three different behaviors: feeding, exploration and sexual receptivity of females within two contextual conditions. Birds showed different behavioral types for exploration behavior, but not for feeding behavior. Besides, birds showed no context-general syndrome. We conclude that the blue-black grassquit does not follow any model predicting a long-term association between different behaviors, such as genetic models predicting syndromes.