Personality Traits in the Budgerigar, Melopsittacus undulatus

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dc.contributor.advisorEstevez, Inmaculadaen_US
dc.contributor.authorCallicrate, Tayloren_US
dc.contributor.departmentAnimal Sciencesen_US
dc.contributor.publisherDigital Repository at the University of Marylanden_US
dc.contributor.publisherUniversity of Maryland (College Park, Md.)en_US
dc.date.accessioned2009-03-24T05:35:20Z
dc.date.available2009-03-24T05:35:20Z
dc.date.issued2008en_US
dc.description.abstractThis study investigated bold-shy personality in the budgerigar, <italic> Melopsittacus undulatus </italic>. Adult budgerigars (14 females, 9 males) fed either a control diet, or one supplemented with docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), were subjected to seven behavioral tests and two immunocompetence assays. Behavioral responses were categorized by context: fear, feeding, or activity. Correlations were obtained within contexts and among immunocompetence variables and all behavioral variables. Kruskal-Wallis analysis was used to investigate effects of gender and DHA on all variables. Budgerigars behaved consistently within activity and feeding contexts. Males had higher feeding rates, and their feeding responses were negatively correlated with a measure of innate immunity. Cluster analysis characterized birds by activity levels; bold birds were highly active and shy birds were less active. The results of this study suggest that budgerigars exhibit consistent behaviors in two contexts, feeding and activity, which are unrelated to each other, and that activity is the predominant personality trait.en_US
dc.format.extent353704 bytes
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/8980
dc.language.isoen_US
dc.subject.pqcontrolledBiology, Zoologyen_US
dc.subject.pqcontrolledAgriculture, Animal Culture and Nutritionen_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledbudgerigaren_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledDHAen_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledMelopsittacus undulatusen_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledpersonalityen_US
dc.titlePersonality Traits in the Budgerigar, Melopsittacus undulatusen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US

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