Single Review on past events

On Tuesday, 18 January 2022 Gabriella Gall (Postdoctoral Fellow / Dept. of Biology) spoke about "Eavesdropping eggs and chicken chatter: the effects of early life experience on vocal communication and coordination".

Abstract:

To maintain the benefits of group living, many animals need to make group decisions and coordinate their actions oftentimes using vocal signals to mediate these processes. The production and appropriate use of vocal signals develops over an individual’s lifetime and is refined by experience. For instance, the soundscape experienced early in life can have profound effects on an individual’s vocal behavior, which in turn affects their reproductive success. During my fellowship I will investigate the use of vocal signals to coordinate group movement and activity in two systems. I will explore mechanisms using aviary-enclosed flocks of domestic chicks (Gallus gallus) which will permit me to manipulate critical aspects of their developmental, social and physical environment in order to conduct a series of controlled experiments. I will explore fitness consequences of ecologically relevant behaviors in free-living groups of pheasants (Phasianus colchicus), which exhibit marked changes in group structure throughout the year. Here I will give an overview over my research plans, present the experiments on domestic chicken chicks, conducted since the start of my fellowship in May 2021 and some (not yet quantified) insights from these experiments.