ReviewPhilosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences2025
Social learning and culture in birds: emerging patterns and relevance to conservation.
Review in Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed.
- Learning pathway determines motor organization and long-term retention of tool use in hornbills.iScience · 2026Article
- Drivers and conservation impacts of innovative tree nesting in an isolated island population of the red-billed chough.Ecology · 2026Article
- Rescue of the traditional song culture of a critically endangered songbird.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Conformity and individual preference shape nest material use in zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata).PloS one · 2026Article
- Siblings and nonparental adults provide alternative pathways to cultural inheritance in juvenile great tits.PLoS biology · 2025Article
- Mapping nonhuman cultures with the Animal Culture Database.Scientific data · 2025Article
- The flexibility of social learning and its conservation implications in mammals and beyond.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2025Review
- Conserving avian vocal culture.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2025Review
- Cultural processes and demography: implications for conservation and beyond.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2025Article
- Animal culture: conservation in a changing world.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2025Article
- The effect of habitat health and environmental change on cultural diversity and richness in animals.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
There is now abundant evidence for a role of social learning and culture in shaping behaviour in a range of avian species across multiple contexts, from migration routes in geese and foraging behaviour in crows, to passerine song. Recent emerging evidence has further linked culture to fitness outcomes in some birds, highlighting its potential importance for conservation. Here, we first summarize the state of knowledge on social learning and culture in birds, focusing on the best-studied contexts of migration, foraging, predation and song. We identify extensive knowledge gaps for some taxa but argue that existing evidence suggests that: (i) social learning and culture are taxonomically clustered and that (ii) reliance on social learning in one behavioural domain does not predict reliance across others. Together, we use this to build a predictive framework to aid conservationists in species-specific decision-making under imperfect knowledge. Second, we review evidence for a link between culture and conservation in birds. We argue that understanding which behaviours birds are likely to learn socially can help refine conservation strategies, improving the trajectories of threatened populations. Last, we present practical steps for how consideration of culture can be integrated into conservation actions including reintroductions, translocations and captive breeding programmes.This article is part of the theme issue 'Animal culture: conservation in a changing world'.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.