Lateralization of visual guided behaviour during feeding in zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata)

The aim of the study was to investigate the asymmetries of visual discrimination performance in zebra finches. Adult male and female zebra finches were tested on the pebble floor test, where the subjects must distinguish between beads and food grains under monocular conditions after a period of food deprivation. Left-eyed birds pecked at beads more than right-eyed and binoculars, but only during the last part of the test. The better performance of the right-eyed birds can be understood as the higher ability of the left hemisphere of the brain to categorize food, as has been already suggested for chicks and pigeons. Nevertheless, the absence of differences at the beginning of the task support the hypothesis of different modes of information processing, such as a prominent involvement of the right hemisphere in response to novelty. (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.