EEP Crowned pigeon number 4

EEP STUDBOOK CROWNED PIGEONS
Foraging and preening
In the tables 6 and 7 it can be seen whether the substrate influences the time spent on preening
and foraging of the male and the female.
Table 6: Time spent foraging and preening (in %) of the male
with different types of substrate
Male 3 parts mould 2 mould, 1 sand 1 mould, 2 sand
To forage 3.89 3.46 1.38
To preen 0.39 0.54 0.67
For the male, there are no significant differences in time budget on the ground with different
types of substrate, as can be seen in table 6.
Table 7: Time spent foraging and preening (in %) of the female
with different types of substrate
(+*# = Significant differences)
Female 3 parts mould 2 mould, 1 sand 1 mould, 2 sand
To forage 1.57 2.96* 7.03*
To preen 0.52 0.62# 2.45#
The female pigeon spent significantly more time preening if there is more sand on the ground
(2.45% versus 0.62%; n = 12, p =0.017). But also the time the female is foraging increases
significantly if more parts are covered with sand (7.03% versus 2.96%; n = 12, p = 0.036).
Discussion
Discussion about the used materials and methods
Conducting research in a zoo always implicates doing concessions. Apart from the interest of
the researcher, there is also interest from the zoo, from the keepers and last but not least from
the visitors. For the interest of the other parties, in most cases it is not possible to keep the
birds under the most ideal circumstances. There are, for example, almost always too many
birds in an aviary. Of course this influences the results of the research project. Furthermore
not all experiments can be carried out in the way the researcher wants, because the enclosure
has always to look clean.
Another problem conducting research on zoo-animals is the low sample-size. In most cases
the husbandry of the animals is not or hardly comparable. It is a goal of most zoos to
distinguish from other zoos. An example of the different circumstances is the temperature: the
crowned pigeons in Burgers’ Bush are kept under a temperature of about 25 degrees
(Celcius), while the birds behind the scenes were kept without heating and the temperature
decreased until 4 degrees! This makes it quite difficult to compare these enclosures.
108