Personality predicts behavioral flexibility in a fluctuating, natural environment

In captivity, personality types differ in behavioral flexibility: “fast” (neophilic, exploratory, and aggressive) types quickly form routines, whereas “slow” types continually adjust their behavior with environmental changes. If these differences extend to pertinent natural environmental changes, which indicate changing predation or starvation threat, then personality may reflect important variation in how animals manage risk. We examined whether personality traits classified in captivity would predict the behavioral flexibility of blue tits Cyanistes caeruleus as they foraged in the wild. Behavioral flexibility was defined as the tendency to adjust feeder use with changing winter air temperature, an indicator of starvation risk. At the population level, birds reduced their feeder use on warm days. Individuals, though, varied widely, with some instead using feeders at a relatively fixed, temperature-independent rate. Sex and size, correlates of dominance in blue tits, did not predict behavioral flexibility. Instead, behavioral flexibility was predicted by age and 2 personality traits: old, neophobic, and exploratory birds were more behaviorally flexible than young, neophilic, and nonexploratory birds. Our findings suggest that personality types differ in how they use information about their environments and hence cope with environmental change.

Lay SummaryA bird’s response to the weather depends on their personality. Individual birds, like humans, respond differently to the same novel or threatening situations. In winter, when starvation risk is greatest, blue tits varied in foraging strategy. Shy but exploratory individuals adjusted their feeder use with air temperature, feeding most on cold days. Bold but less exploratory individuals fed at a fixed rate all winter. Thus, personality may predict how individuals cope with environmental change.