Male New Zealand robins have worked out a way to keep their mate happy: making sure they bring her the right food.
New
research from Victoria University of Wellington shows the wild male
birds read their partner's behaviour to make sure they bring her the
food she wants.
Dr Rachael Shaw conducted the study on a group of North Island robins based at Wellington's Zealandia.
She said robins were monogamous and food sharing, but the mating pairs still showed an impressive level of communication.
"We
found male robins appropriately catered to their mates' desire, even
when the female's behaviour was the only cue available to guide their
choices.
"This suggests that females can signal their current desires to their mates, enabling males to respond to that."
The researchers first investigated the female robins' eating habits, by feeding them either mealworms or waxworms.
They
were then given the choice between the two types of insect larvae. The
researchers found the female would pick to eat the other type on the
second time around.
They then tested if the male would be able to choose the insect his partner would be likely to want to eat.
They found that, whether or not he'd seen what she'd eaten previously, the male still usually made the approprte choice.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/environment/news/article.cfm?c_id=39&objectid=11840914
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