Cognitive ecology of individual recognition in colonial birds

[3] The logic behind this hypothesis is based on the principle that larger group size will require a higher degree of complexity in their interactions.

[3] Many studies have looked at the effect of sociality on the brain development, mostly focussing on non-human primate species.

[2] As colonial birds tend to cluster in high density groups, finding your mate can be a challenge.

[5] Inbreeding avoidance has been shown in a species of storm petrel, a colonial seabird that nests in burrows.

Such instances can be seen in scrub jays, whose offspring stay after fledging in order to help raise the next brood.

[6] Feeding the wrong chick would result in high cost for the parent with little to no benefit for their own reproductive success.

[7] In the case of bird species that raise many offspring at once, chicks that are able to recognize their parents may also increase their begging rate and therefore obtain more food in return.

[9][10] Olfaction seems to be used in an array of different task such as for finding food, migrating and kin recognition.

[9][10] In burrowing species such as in puffins, auks and petrels, smells seem to be at the basis of mate and nest recognition.

[11] Such a mechanism of recognition has also been shown in auks as they mostly fly at night, keeping them from using spatial memory in order to find their burrow.

Recognition based on acoustic signatures has been demonstrated in many bird species such as in penguins,[16][6] swallows,[13] gulls,[8] razorbills[17] and more.

[8] This study also supported that the mechanism of acoustic recognition is most likely the same in most species within the gull family, Laridae.