Exclusion in the field: wild brown skuas find hidden food in the absence of visual information

Inferential reasoning by exclusion allows responding adaptively to various environmental stimuli when confronted with inconsistent or partial information. In the experimental context, this mechanism involves selecting correctly between an empty option and a potentially rewarded one. Recently, increasing reports of capacity in phylogenetically distant species have led assumption that is result convergent evolution. Within one largely unstudied avian order, i.e. Charadriiformes, brown skuas (Catharacta antarctica ssp lonnbergi) are highly flexible opportunistic predators. Behavioural flexibility, along specific aspects skuas’ feeding ecology, may act as influencing factors their ability show performance. Our study aims test whether able choose visual two-way object-choice task. Twenty-six wild birds were presented two opaque cups, covering food reward. Three conditions used: ‘full information’ (showing content both cups), ‘exclusion’ cup), ‘control’ (not showing any content). Skuas preferentially selected cup full information condition. The use olfactory cues was excluded results control opens new field investigations for testing further cognition predatory seabird.