Conditioning pigeons to discriminate naturally lit insect specimens

Pigeons (Columba livia) were trained on a visual discrimination task using a novel apparatus which enabled pinned specimens of insects, illuminated by natural daylight, to be presented under a pecking key transparent to ultraviolet light. Three birds showed evidence of learning to discriminate between sets of wasp and fly specimens. This response transferred to specimens of four hoverfly species, the strength of the response varying between the different hoverfly species. This conditioning technique offers a promising means of analysing mechanisms of visual processing in birds that are relevant to theories of the evolution of camouflage and mimicry.