This is me in a nutshell
Research
Publications
 

Dr. Christian Schloegl

Reasoning in birds

chris_schloegl@web.de

christian.schloegl@klf.ac.at

This is me in a nutshell:

I started studying biology in 1998 at the University of Bayreuth, Germany. After some field work experience in Mexico, I first came to the KLF for practical training in 2001. After another stay in Mexico, I obtained my master of biology ("Diplom-Biologe") from the University of Bayreuth. For my thesis, I returned to the KLF to hand-raise a group of 13 ravens and to collect data on the ontogeny of ravens' gaze following skills. During my PhD, I investigated how corvids can use their own as well as others' gaze direction as a source of information. Since December 2008, I work now as a PostDoc at the KLF, using a comparative approach to investigate the cognitive abilities of corvids and parrots.

Research:

I first investigated the ability of ravens to use the gaze direction of others as a source of information. Since then, I continued with studying reasoning abilities in ravens. Currently, I use a comparative approach, investigating reasoning abilities in a number of corvid and parrot species. Ultimately, we hope to understand the socio-ecological factors leading to the evolution of the cognitive abilities of these big-brained birds. For this project, we are collaborating with a number of researchers from other institutions. Among our collaboration partners are Prof. Ludwig Huber and Dr. Gyula Gajdon (University of Vienna), Prof. Alex Kacelnik and Dr. Auguste von Bayern (University of Oxford), Dr. Paolo Zucca (University of Trieste) and the ARGE Papageienschutz in Vienna. In addition, I continue my work on the responsiveness to gaze cues in non-human animals, and - as a side project - I am interested in lateralisation effects.

I am grateful for the financial support I received from the DAAD (Doktorandenstipendium) and the Austrian Science Foundation FWF

Publications:
 

Weiß, B.M., Kehmeier, S. & Schloegl, C. (2010): Transitive inference in free-living greylag geese (Anser anser). Animal Behaviour, 79, 1277-1283 (request pdf)

Loretto, M.-C., Schloegl, C. & Bugnyar, T. (2010): Northern bald ibises follow others' gaze into distant space but not behind barriers. Biology letters; 6, 14-17 (request pdf)

Schloegl, C., Dierks, A., Gajdon, G.K., Huber, L., Kotrschal, K. & Bugnyar, T. (2009): What you see is what you get? Exclusion performances in ravens and keas; PLoS One, 4(8), e6368

Schloegl, C., Dierks, A., Gajdon, G.K., Huber, L. Kotrschal, K. & Bugnyar, T. (2009): Inference by exclusion in ravens, jackdaws and keas; Primate Report, Special Issue, February 2009; 32 (published abstract)

Kehmeier, S., Scheiber, I.B.R., Schloegl, C. & Weiß, B.M. (2009): Gaze following in hand-raised greylag goslings; Primate Report, Special Issue, February 2009; 20 (published abstract)

Weiß, B.M., Kehmeier, S., Mikolasch, S. & Schloegl, C. (2009): Transitive inference in greylag geese; Primate Report, Special Issue, February 2009; 38 (published abstract)

Schloegl, C., Bugnyar, T. & Aust, U., 2009: Exclusion performances in non-human animals: from chimpanzees to pigeons and back again. In: Rational animals, irrational humans (ed. by A. Blaisdell, L. Huber, S. Watanabe, Young, A.,  and Y. Yamazaki); Tokyo: Keio University Press; pp. 217-234

Schloegl, C., Kotrschal, K. & Bugnyar, T. (2008): Do common ravens (Corvus corax) rely on human or conspecific gaze cues to detect hidden food? Animal Cognition, 11, 231-241

Schwab, C., Bugnyar, T., Schloegl, C. & Kotrschal, K. (2008): Enhanced social learning between siblings in common ravens, Corvus corax. Animal Behaviour, 75, 502-508

Schloegl, C., Schmidt, J., Scheid, C., Kotrschal, K. & Bugnyar, T. (2008): Gaze following in non-human animals - The corvid example; in: Animal Behaviour: New Research (eds.: E. A. Weber & L. H. Krause). New York: Nova Science Publishers; pp. 73-92

Schloegl, C., Kotrschal, K. & Bugnyar, T. (2008): Modifying the object-choice task: Is the way you look important for ravens? Behavioural Processes, 77(1), 61-65 (request pdf)

Stöwe, M., Bugnyar, T., Schloegl, C., Kotrschal, K. & Heinrich, B. (2008): Corticosterone excretion patterns and affiliative behaviour over development in ravens (Corvus corax). Hormones & Behaviour; 53, 208-216 (request pdf)

Schloegl, C., Kotrschal, K. & Bugnyar, T. (2007): Gaze following in Common ravens Corvus   corax: ontogeny and habituation. Animal Behaviour, 74, 769-778

Bugnyar, T., Schwab, C., Schloegl, C., Kotrschal, K. & Heinrich, B. (2007): Ravens judge competitors through experience with play caching; Current Biology, 17, 1804-1808

Range, F., Bugnyar, T., Schloegl, C., Schwab, C. and Kotrschal, K. (2006) Individual learning ability and coping styles in ravens (Corvus corax). Behavioural Processes, 73(1), 100-106

Stöwe, M., Bugnyar, T., Loretto, M.-C., Schloegl, C., Range, F. and Kotrschal, K. (2006) Novel-object exploration in ravens (Corvus corax): Effects of social relationships. Behavioural Processes, 73(1), 68-75