Personality, sociality and foraging in the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata)

Few personality studies of zebra finches have taken into account the importance of the social environment of this highly social species, which is important as it may influence how personality is formed and maintained. Moreover, no work has yet studied zebra finch personality in the wild, to examine the role of fitness. I addressed these questions by first examining the relationship between sociality and well-established personality traits in captivity, such as exploratory behaviour and activity, along with examining the effects of personality on fitness in a captive aviary population. Secondly, I studies personality in the wild zebra finch for the first time.