Wind Increases Blinking Behavior in Great-Tailed Grackles (Quiscalus mexicanus)

Abstract

Animals often adjust their behavior and physiology in response to extreme weather. One reason they do so is because weather can cause sensory impairments but our understanding of this topic is limited. We therefore tested whether wind, a common component of extreme weather, impacts sensory systems in captive great-tailed grackles (Quiscalus mexicanus). In particular, we examined whether wind influences their blinking behavior, a fundamental aspect of visual processing that potentially limits information intake. We exposed the grackles to simulated wind while recording their blinking behavior. We found that the grackles exhibited increased blinking behavior when experiencing windy vs. calm conditions. These results suggest that wind may influence visual processing in birds and potentially impair information gathering.

Blinking behavior in great‐tailed grackles (Quiscalus mexicanus) increases during simulated rainfall

“…After the direct rain stopped, very little water fell onto the birds' eyes (any remaining water droplets on the birds' heads quickly fell off). While no previous studies have examined the impact of rain on blinking behavior, our results are similar to those showing that ocular irritants increase blinking behavior in humans (Nakamori et al, 1997;Wu et al, 2014;Yang et al, 2001) and birds (Yorzinski & Argubright, 2019).…”

“…While animals can modify their physiology and behavior in response to abrupt weather changes, we have a limited understanding of how they do so (Buchholz et al, 2019). Blinking behavior is a fundamental aspect of visual processing that is influenced by environmental conditions (Nakamori et al, 1997;Wu et al, 2014;Yang et al, 2001;Yorzinski & Argubright, 2019). Further studies that examine how weather impacts visual processing, including blinking, will help uncover how animals adjust to weather extremes.…”

“…The birds were tested when their heads were restrained and unrestrained; because blinks often coincide with head movements in many species (Beauchamp, 2017;Evinger et al, 1994;Gandhi, 2012;Yorzinski, 2016), the effect of rainfall on blinking behavior could be examined without the possible confounding effect of head movements by restraining the birds' heads. Blinking behavior was expected to increase when the birds were exposed to the direct rain (but not the indirect rain) because ocular irritants generally increase blinking behavior (Nakamori, Odawara, Nakajima, Mizutani, & Tsubota, 1997;Wu, Begley, Situ, & Simpson, 2014;Yang, Zhang, Chen, Chen, & Wang, 2001;Yorzinski & Argubright, 2019) and raindrops remaining on the eye surface might obscure vision.…”

Phylogenetically-controlled correlates of primate blinking behaviour

“…Little is known about how blinking differs between species, and more detailed comparative studies comparing the behaviour both between and within species are needed, with larger sample sizes taken within species (as the current data were based on observations of between one and five individuals in captive conditions, which could conceivably mean that some of the results used were atypical for a species). This would need to be done using a suitably standardised technique ( Tada et al, 2013 ) to allow comparison between species, as blinking behaviour is likely to be affected by environmental conditions ( Nakamori et al, 1997 ; Yorzinski & Argubright, 2019 ; Yorzinski, 2020a ). The reanalysis presented here highlights that care needs to be taken when considering data from related species, and that phylogenetically-controlled correlations may exist with ecological data from existing datasets.…”

Red deerCervus elaphusblink more in larger groups

“…The blink rate may also be influenced by factors other than the size of the group, including rainfall and wind (which have been shown to influence blink rate in captive grackles Quiscalus mexicanus [45,46]). Similarly, the behaviour that an individual conducts simultaneously to the blink may be important.…”