Imprinted species recognition lasts for life in free-living great tits and blue tits

Species recognition may be learned through imprinting early in life. Imprinting has normally been studied under highly unnatural conditions in the laboratory. We tested whether species recognition mediated through imprinting is individually modifiable in a field setting where great tits, Parus major, have been artificially cross-fostered to blue tits, Cyanistes caeruleus, and vice versa. We have shown previously that cross-fostered birds have deviant species recognition, in terms of both mate choice and aggressive responses towards rivals. Natural interactions among conspecifics and heterospecifics are common in these populations, potentially giving cross-fostered birds scope for relearning their species identity. We tested whether species recognition may change with experience during adulthood by comparing the aggressive response of cross-fostered birds and controls of different ages towards caged intruders. When breeding, cross-fostered birds responded aggressively towards same-sex individuals of their heterospecific foster species, while unmanipulated controls responded mainly towards conspecifics. We found that the aggressive response decreased with age at similar rates in both treatments and in both species. Moreover, there was no effect of age on the relative response towards conspecifics and heterospecifics in either treatment. Hence, we found no evidence that the species recognition behaviour towards same-sex individuals is shifted towards conspecifics with age in interspecifically cross-fostered birds. We conclude that species recognition is irreversible once it has been established in free-living great tits and blue tits. This is the first study to investigate the stability of species recognition in the field.