Animal Behavior: Instinct
Problems
Problem :
A female Herring gull has a red spot on her beak. When they see this spot, her chicks will peck at it and the female bird will regurgitate food for the chicks. Identify two key stimuli and their resulting fixed action patterns in this situation.
Problem :
A male stickleback fish will normally become aggressive upon seeing the red belly of another male stickleback. These males will become extremely aggressive when they see a large red object. Why does this happen?
Problem :
Ducklings must crouch to avoid predators that fly overhead. The silhouette of predatory birds is the same shape as that of adult ducks in reverse. A duckling knows to crouch when a predatory bird flies overhead, but does not crouch when adult ducks do. What two key stimuli does the duck require to trigger the crouching fixed action pattern?
Problem :
In the above problem, what type of stimulus is the combination of predator shape and direction that triggers the crouching FAP in ducklings?
