Inhibitory control, exploration behaviour and manipulated ecological context are associated with foraging flexibility in the great tit

​​​​​Organisms are constantly under selection to respond effectively to diverse, sometimes rapid, changes in their environment, but not all individuals are equally plastic in their behaviour. Although cognitive processes and personality are expected to influence individual behavioural plasticity, the effects reported are highly inconsistent, which we hypothesise is because ecological context is usually not considered.

We explored how one type of behavioural plasticity, foraging flexibility, was associated with inhibitory control (assayed using a detour-reaching task) and exploration behaviour in a novel environment (a trait closely linked to the fast-slow personality axis). We investigated how these effects varied across two experimentally manipulated ecological contexts, food value and predation risk.

In the first phase of the experiment, we trained great tits Parus major to retrieve high value (preferred) food that was hidden in sand so that this became the familiar food source....