Aggression‐based social learning in the zebra finch ( <i>Taeniopygia guttata</i> )

Selectively learning from specific types of individuals may be adaptive if demonstrator characteristics can used to identify more beneficial sources social information. Such “social biases” have been experimentally demonstrated in a number species, but these experiments generally involve restricted laboratory conditions using limited potential demonstrators and tend consider only the rather than importance pairwise relationships on information transfer between individuals. In this study, we presented novel foraging task large population zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) housed free-flying aviary multinetwork Network-Based Diffusion Analysis (NBDA) establish whether birds learned they shared particular with. Specifically, investigated solves followed pathways representing following individuals: feeding associations, aggressive interactions, positive associations (e.g. grooming) mating pairs. We found strong evidence that learn their aggressors, irrespective outcome encounter. This has previously suggested laboratory-based studies finches, never conclusively documented freely interacting population. also some weaker suggest mates—a bias received little no attention. However, mates-based occurred infrequently was secondary aggression-based biases. Our results therefore additionally highlight including combinations multiple analyses account for otherwise missed.