Data from: Tasting novel foods and selecting nutrient content in a highly successful ecological invader, the common myna

Invasion success is dependent on the ability of a species to discover and exploit novel food resources. Within this context, individuals must be willing to taste novel foods. They must also be capable of evaluating the nutritional content of new foods, and selecting their relative intake in order to fulfil their nutritional needs. Whereas the former capacity is well studied, little is known about the latter capacity. First, using the common myna as a model avian invader species, we quantified the willingness of mynas to taste novel foods relative to familiar ones. Mynas readily tasted high protein (HP) novel foods and consumed them in higher quantities compared to a familiar food. Data showed that at three different levels – mixes, ingredients and macronutrients – intake could not be explained by a random model. In experiment 2, we confirmed that mynas were making their selection based on protein (P) content rather than a selection for novelty per se. When given the choice of three equally unfamiliar foods, mynas again ate disproportionately from the high protein relative to high lipid and high carbohydrate foods. Analysis revealed that mynas consumed amounts of protein that were closer to the ones in their natural diet. Finally, in experiment 3, we measured inter-individual variation in innovation and exploration propensities, and examined associations with inter-individual variation in consumption of specific macronutrients. This analysis revealed that individuals that selected HP pellets were more exploratory and individuals that selected HC pellets were quicker to solve the innovative foraging task. These findings indicate that not only the willingness to taste novel foods, but also the capacity to evaluate their nutritional content, might be central to the myna's substantial ecological success.

物种入侵成功与否，取决于其发现并利用新型食物资源的能力。在此背景下，动物个体不仅需主动尝试新型食物，还需能够评估新食物的营养成分，并据此调整相对摄入量以满足自身营养需求。尽管前者（主动尝试新型食物的意愿）已得到充分研究，但学界对后者（评估营养成分的能力）的了解仍十分有限。我们以家八哥（common myna）作为鸟类入侵物种的模型类群，首先量化了其相较于熟悉食物，对新型食物的尝试意愿。结果显示，家八哥会主动取食高蛋白（high protein, HP）新型食物，且相较于熟悉食物，其取食量更高；实验数据表明，在食物混合配比、原料组成以及宏量营养素这三个维度上，取食模式均无法用随机模型解释。在实验2中，我们证实家八哥的食物选择是基于蛋白质（protein, P）含量，而非单纯偏好新型食物本身：当提供三种同样陌生的食物供其选择时，家八哥依然会不成比例地优先取食高蛋白食物，而非高脂肪或高碳水化合物食物。分析结果显示，家八哥的蛋白质摄入量更接近其自然饮食中的蛋白质水平。最后在实验3中，我们测量了个体间的创新与探索倾向差异，并检验了其与特定宏量营养素取食量的个体间差异的相关性。该分析显示，选择高蛋白颗粒饲料的个体探索性更强，而选择高碳水化合物（high carbohydrate, HC）颗粒饲料的个体则能更快完成创新性觅食任务。上述研究结果表明，主动尝试新型食物的意愿与评估新食物营养成分的能力，可能均是家八哥取得显著生态成功的核心因素。