Consistent Intra‐Individual Seed Preferences, Yet No Dietary Conservatism in a Granivorous Songbird

ABSTRACT Birds, as most other animals, face challenges in finding food in ever‐changing habitats where food availability can vary greatly. Given the fluctuating quantities and varieties of accessible food sources, the ability to explore and exploit alternative, perhaps completely new, food sources would be of great benefit. Despite the benefits of such generalist strategies, there is often foraging specialization, which may allow greater efficiency in accessing and processing a specific food source, and it helps reduce competition. However, how specialization arises and whether it implies that specialists avoid novel foods (dietary conservatism), even though these new foods may provide benefits, is poorly studied. This study therefore examines whether domestic canaries are consistent in their seed choice and whether they tend to avoid a novel seed type, in this case, white millet. To this end, food preferences were investigated in a series of individual‐based seed preference tests. Most individuals exhibited consistent seed preference patterns over time. Seed choice appeared a repeatable behavior, and seeds picked are hence not chosen at random. Subsequently, when exposed to a novel seed type (white millet), individuals did not show any dietary conservatism. On the contrary, individuals familiar with white millet picked a significantly lower amount of that seed than individuals who were not familiar with the seed. This suggests that individuals with more experience with this seed type may have learned that its foraging is not very efficient. Taken together, our results show that being consistent in dietary choices does not necessarily relate to dietary conservatism.