Rearing condition affects behavioral response to cross-modal expectancy violation paradigm in zebra finches

Recognizing other individuals across multiple sensory modalities is important for animals in social groups. Processing of multisensory information is shaped by social and sensory experiences, especially early in development. Zebra finches form lasting pair-bonds and recognize their partners acoustically and visually. However, the degree to which multisensory integration or developmental experience shape recognition is unclear. We tested female responses to audiovisual stimuli where audio and video of familiar (partner) or unfamiliar birds was congruent (e.g., familiar audio and familiar video) or incongruent (e.g., familiar audio and unfamiliar video). Using automated pose-tracking, we found that stimulus congruency affected behavior, with females showing more head turning and vocalizations to mismatched audio and video. While both colony-reared birds and birds reared without exposure to adult song detected audiovisual congruency, they differed in the degree of their behaviors. Thus, female finches integrate multisensory information for partner identification, but differences in developmental environment influence behavioral expression.