Biology Siblings are the most important teachers for great tits

Young great tits learn vital skills primarily from their siblings. Their parents only play a subordinate role as teachers, as a new study with Swiss participation shows.

Keystone-SDA

13.10.2025, 16:55

SDA

For the study, published in the journal "Plos Biology" and led by Sonja Wild from the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior in Germany, researchers installed special feeding boxes with sliding doors in two forest areas. The birds had to push the small door to the left or right in order to reach the mealworms behind it.

The great tit parents were specifically trained to open the door on a certain side - some to the left, others to the right. The scientists then observed over ten weeks how 229 young birds from 51 nests solved the puzzle - and above all: who they learned it from. The researchers also fitted the young great tits with microchips to track their movements and social interactions.

The analysis showed that the parents only had a limited influence on the young birds' learning. According to the study, the most important teachers were older siblings. Other experienced adult birds from the flock also contributed to the passing on of knowledge.

Social environment influences the birds

The direction in which the young birds opened the door was strongly influenced by the birds' social environment. If the majority of the birds pushed the door to the right, the young birds also opened the door to the right. Over time, the birds then relied more and more on their own experience.

According to the authors, this indicates that in species with short periods of parental care - such as great tits, which only stay with their offspring for a few weeks - cultural transmission is not only dependent on the parents, but also takes place via various social pathways. This diversity of transmission routes makes the exchange of knowledge more flexible than in species where only the parents act as teachers.

Lucy Aplin, a researcher at the University of Zurich, was involved in the study from Switzerland.