About This Project

One cannot go to Florida and miss the White Ibises roaming golf, park and private lawns. But how does a swamp-loving ibis become a city bird? We’re testing whether urban ibises are cleverer than their wild cousins using puzzle boxes designed just for them. At the same time, a statewide citizen-science project is tracking where ibises go and how they live alongside people. We expect that urban ibises will overall solve the puzzle faster, especially where they interact with people more often.

Ask the Scientists

What is the context of this research?

Florida is losing wetlands fast, 50% of the Greater Everglades has been converted to farmland and urban development. As natural habitat shrinks, wildlife increasingly moves into our cities, but not all species thrive there. In Florida for instance,one cannot visit a public park without encountering the White Ibis. Formerly described as "wetland specialists", ibises now stroll on our lawns and rely on human handouts for food. Unlike many wetland birds that struggle in cities, urban ibises seem to flourish—but why? One possibility is that successful urban wildlife rely on better problem-solving ability: for a crab-eating bird, knowing how to open a bag of chips is an impressive task! So are urban ibises smarter than their wild cousins?

To find out, I designed an automatic puzzle box that measures problem-solving in the wild. By comparing how well urban and non-urban ibises solve the puzzle, I can investigate urban ibises' secret path to success.

What is the significance of this project?

Innovation and problem-solving are often assumed to be key to explain urban success, especially because many of the most striking examples of animal innovation have been observed in urban environments (also). Yet cities also offer more novel resources (aka "puzzles") so the animals might simply appear more innovative without actually being so.

This project directly tests this assumption for the first time in the wild, and in a group where it matters urgently: wading birds. Wetlands are among the most threatened ecosystems, yet several ibis species repeatedly succeed at urbanizing while other wetland birds do not. By measuring problem-solving in urban and non-urban White Ibises, this study will provide the first empirical evidence linking cognitive traits to urban success. These results will help identify what traits are key to predict which species can adapt to urban landscapes and guide conservation strategies in a rapidly urbanizing world.

What are the goals of the project?

I will use these funds to deploy my puzzle boxes on the field. The puzzle boxes are automated, they reward the birds with a food item each time a solution is found. They present for keyboards (one on each side), each having one "correct" pecking sequence. The box will record how many times birds attempt solving the box, how many times they succeed, and how long they take before they start interacting with the box and finding a solution. I will also be monitoring the trial from afar, taking notes on each individuals as they are interacting with the box and what they do. I have tagged ibises at these locations before so I will be able to tell who does what and link this with traits like sex, movement, habitat preferences and social position in the flock.

I will be able to compare how urban and wetland ibises react to the the box and how fast they manage to solve it.

I expect that urban ibises will start interacting with and solving the box faster.