Juvenile Galápagos pelicans increase their foraging success by copying adult behaviour.

Abstract

Social learning is the building block of culture and traditions in humans and nonhuman animals, and its study has a long history. Most investigations have addressed either the causation or the function of social learning. Though much is known about the underlying mechanisms of social learning, demonstrations of its adaptive value in a natural setting are lacking. Here we show that juvenile brown pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis) can increase their foraging efficiency by copying adult diving behaviour, suggesting that social learning helps juveniles to find profitable food patches. Our findings demonstrate the potential fitness consequences of behavioural copying and thus highlight the possible adaptive importance of social learning.