An investigation of quantity discrimination in Clark's nutcrackers (Nucifraga columbiana)

• Published in: Journal of comparative psychology (Washington, D.C. : 1983) Vol. 129; no. 1; p. 17
• Main Authors: Tornick, Jan K, Callahan, Emily S, Gibson, Brett M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.02.2015
• Subjects: Animals; Animals, Wild - physiology; Behavior, Animal - physiology; Discrimination (Psychology) - physiology; Mathematical Concepts; Passeriformes
• DOI: 10.1037/a0037863

We examined quantity discrimination in the Clark's nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana), a corvid bird with a strong dependence upon caching and recovering nuts. We presented 2 sets of nuts simultaneously, in 21 different conditions, to see if the nutcrackers could choose the larger of the 2 quantities. The nutcrackers displayed a strong ability to discriminate quantities of nuts. Like other animals tested previously, the nutcrackers' performance decreased as the ratio of the 2 quantities approached 1. Interestingly, at constant distances, the nutcrackers did not have more difficulty with contrasts containing larger quantities. Thus, nutcrackers have a fine sensitivity for discriminating between 2 quantities. We review the relevant literature and explore the possibility that nutcrackers, like some other birds, may have developed a keen ability to discriminate quantities. This ability may have developed as an adaptive specialization to cope with their scatter-hoarding ecology, though the evidence for such a conclusion is mixed.