A Workshop in Ecology and Behaviour seminar hosted by the School of Biological Sciences
The social lives of animals are arguably the most complex and fluctuating component of their environment. In order to navigate their social landscape, animals must gather and process information about social partners, a demand that has been proposed as a key driver in the evolution of cognition. In this talk I will present experimental work on jackdaws that uses automated experiments and strangely coloured cheese to test social learning and flexibility by altering the value of social partners and the information they provide. I will demonstrate how jackdaws can use their socio-cognitive abilities to learn both from and about each other, allowing them to succeed in a social, changing world.