Caching at a distance: a cache protection strategy in Eurasian jays

Area of Science:

• Animal Behavior
• Cognitive Ecology
• Avian Cognition

Background:

• Corvid social cognition is complex, with caching behaviors debated as either intentional cache protection or by-products.
• Understanding if Eurasian jays' caching strategies are adaptive responses to potential pilferage is key.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate whether Eurasian jays employ specific cache protection strategies when caching in the presence of conspecifics.
• To differentiate between the cache protection hypothesis and by-product hypotheses for observed caching behaviors.

Main Methods:

• Observing Eurasian jays' caching behavior in controlled conditions, varying the presence and attention of conspecific observers.
• Comparing caching locations when jays cached in private versus when observed by conspecifics, and when eating versus caching.

Main Results:

• Eurasian jays preferentially cached food at a distance when observed by conspecifics.
• This preference for distant caching was absent when jays cached in private or ate in front of others.
• The behavior was specific to caching situations involving potential pilferage risk.

Conclusions:

• The findings strongly support the cache protection hypothesis for Eurasian jays.
• Caching at a distance is a specific strategy to prevent cache loss when observed by conspecifics.
• This demonstrates sophisticated social cognition and strategic behavior in corvids.