How Studying Neophobia Can Save Endangered Hawaii’an Crows
By Julie Do
Are you someone who’s afraid to step out of their comfort zone? Does the thought of adventuring into the unknown give you a sense of dread? If so, you’re more like a crow than you thought! Turns out that the idea of novelty is anxiety-inducing for Hawai’ian crows — and this information can actually be used to help them.
How rare is the Hawaiian Crow?
The Hawai’ian Crow, also known as the ‘alalā, is one of the world’s most endangered birds. It is the only surviving native corvid in Hawai’i, with 142 birds left in the world. The species was driven to extinction in the wild in 2002 due to degradation of their native forest habitat from introduced predators (like cats, rats, and mongooses), disease, and ungulate grazing.
All of these remaining crows have spent several generations in captivity and most of them still live in conservation breeding facilities. The breeding programs try to keep the remaining birds as “wild” as possible by using either adult Hawai’ian crows or crow puppets to raise the juveniles. During the fledging period (the stage when birds become able to fly), the young interact only w/ other birds around the same age or with people in costumes.
Though there are currently conservation efforts in place, with such few numbers of Hawai’ian crows left in the world, scientists are scrambling to learn more about them in hopes of saving these birds’ dwindling numbers. Researchers Greggor et al. (2020) set out to find how studying neophobia — the fear of new things — can have implications for the species’ conservation.
Crows are certainly not fowl… but you could say they’re a bit chicken.
For their study, Greggor et al. looked at 118 Hawai’ian crows at the Keauhou and Maui Bird Conservation Centers out of the 142 still in existence. To test the birds’ fear of new things, scientists used bright colorful flags to tie various objects to crows’ food pan racks and recorded the birds as they ate.
Results showed that crows were almost four times less likely to eat their food when a novel object was tied to their food rack. Age also affected their responses: Juveniles (crows less than three years old) were twice as afraid as the adults to eat beside the foreign objects. Overall, this bird family showed much more unwillingness to eat in the presence of new objects when compared to non-corvid birds.
What does neophobia reveal about birds?
For birds in the wild, novelty can be a double-edged sword. Avoiding something new might mean the animal potentially avoids harm but can also mean missing out on potentially useful new resources.
Studies have shown that many species ranging from birds to mammals (including humans!) tend to show lower levels of neophobia and higher exploration in juveniles when compared to adults. Hawai’ian Crows are fascinating in that they show the opposite trend. Why might this be?
The level of neophobia should change between age groups if different age levels are subjected to different dangers. For example, if younger birds are more prone to predation, they will be more cautious in the face of unknown situations. Other speculations include the guess that developmental changes in cognitive and physical abilities during sexual maturity or an adjustment to captivity could also affect birds’ fear levels. These are all possible reasons why juvenile crows are more neophobic than adults.
A mystery that remains is why the Hawai’ian Crow is such a neophobic species in general. Animals that live on islands tend to have less predators and poisonous prey, and as a result, they have less to be afraid of even when faced with something unfamiliar. This also makes island species more likely to be exploratory when compared to mainland species or closely-related populations. Even though the Hawai’ian Crows are island species, they seem to be an exception to the rule for island-dwelling organisms. Further studies need to be done in order to find out why they exhibit this behavior.
Can studying neophobia help save the Hawai’ian Crow?
Being able to predict the levels of neophobia in Hawai’ian Crows at different ages can be useful for conserving the species. For instance, scientists can use this information to figure out the best ways to translocate the crows since the birds’ response to novelty can alter the effectiveness of prerelease training for reintroduction into nature. Knowledge of neophobia levels can also help researchers make predictions about how well birds might survive after being released.
Being neophobic means that the Hawai’ian Crow will need extra attention before being reintroduced to the wild by having tailored exposures to novelty depending on their age, with young birds needing more training for beneficial novelty and shorter training for dangerous novelty. Knowing that juvenile crows respond more strongly toward unfamiliar things than adults also indicates that younger birds may be better candidates for eventual release from captivity back into the wild. If fear makes young crows more alert and careful when exploring a new habitat, they might survive better in the face of potential danger.
Though the current numbers of Hawai’ian Crows are bleak, continued research on their behaviors and fears can provide valuable information for scientists. Studying the birds’ neophobia can make the difference between the extinction versus recovery of this unique species.
References
Greggor, A. L., Masuda, B., Flanagan, A. M., & Swaisgood, R. R. (2020). Age-related patterns of neophobia in an endangered island crow: implications for conservation and natural history. Animal Behaviour, 160, 61–68.
