Great Tit study Reveals Siblings, Not Parents, as Key to Juvenile Learning
A new study published October 9th in PLOS Biology challenges conventional wisdom about how young animals acquire essential life skills, finding that european great tits rely more on their siblings and other flock members than their parents for learning. The research, conducted by Sonja Wild of the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior in Germany and colleagues, offers a compelling example of cultural inheritance that doesn’t solely depend on parent-to-offspring transmission.
For many species, observing and interacting with parents is crucial for young individuals to develop vital skills. However,less is understood about learning patterns in species with limited parental care. This study focused on great tits, birds that only depend on their parents for a few weeks.Researchers presented 51 breeding pairs and their 229 offspring with intricate feeding puzzles – devices requiring a sliding door to be moved left or right to access a reward.
Initial findings indicated that offspring were more likely to solve the puzzle if their parents were proficient puzzle-solvers, suggesting some parental influence. However, a more meaningful trend emerged: young birds overwhelmingly learned from siblings and unrelated adult great tits, with parental input playing a comparatively minor role. Remarkably, younger birds who weren’t the oldest in their group learned solutions almost entirely – over 90% of the time – from their older siblings.
“In many animal species, juveniles rely on their parents for learning behaviors, a process called cultural inheritance that leads to behavioral similarities within family units,” explained a researcher involved in the study. “Using songbirds as a study system, we show that in species with limited parental care, siblings can be key sources for learning new behaviors, which provides an alternative pathway to cultural inheritance that can explain behavioral similarities in families even with minimal parental input.”
The research team utilized fully automated puzzle boxes and micro-chipped birds to meticulously track learning pathways and decision-making strategies. This allowed for the collection of data from tens of thousands of puzzle solves, providing a high-resolution understanding of the learning process. The great tit has long been a valuable model organism for studying sociality and learning, but this study specifically addresses the frequently enough-overlooked juvenile period – a critical time for acquiring new knowledge.
The eagerness of the birds to participate in the experiments was notable,as they collectively consumed 33 kilograms of mealworms in just a few weeks. This enthusiasm underscores the importance of efficient learning during this crucial developmental stage.
This research highlights the importance of considering broader social networks – beyond just parents – when studying animal learning and cultural transmission. Future studies, the authors suggest, should investigate how environmental conditions and developmental stress might further influence thes learning dynamics.The findings offer a new viewpoint on how behavioral traditions are maintained and passed down through generations,even with limited direct parental involvement.
Study Citation: Wild S, Alarcón-Nieto G, Aplin LM (2025) Siblings and nonparental adults provide alternative pathways to cultural inheritance in juvenile great tits. PLoS Biol 23(10): e3003401.
Funding Sources: This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) under Germany’s Excellence Strategy (grant number EXC 2117-422037984) and a Max Planck Society Group Leader Fellowship to LMA. LMA is currently supported by the Swiss State Secretariat for education, Research and Innovation (SERI) under contract number MB22.00056. SW was supported by a swiss National Science Foundation postdoc mobility fellowship (grant number P500PB_210994).
