On the stimulus situation releasing the begging response in the newly hatched herring gull chick (Larus argentatus argentatus Pont.)
Tinbergen and Perdeck, writing in German, study the begging response of newly hatched herring gull chicks, which peck at the tip of the adult's bill. The response is innate. Using dummy experiments, they tried to identify the stimulus situation that releases it. The bill supplies the key stimuli, while the shape, colour and size of the head are irrelevant. The bill stimulates through movement, shape, which must be long and thin, and a low position, among other features.
Tinbergen and Perdeck, writing in German, study the begging response of newly hatched herring gull chicks, which peck at the tip of the adult's bill. The response is innate. Using dummy experiments, they tried to identify the stimulus situation that releases it. The bill supplies the key stimuli, while the shape, colour and size of the head are irrelevant. The bill stimulates through movement, shape, which must be long and thin, and a low position, among other features.
Written from the abstract as shown on the OpenAlex record, read 2026-11-04.
What our sources record
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Tinbergen, N., & Perdeck, A. C. (1951). On the stimulus situation releasing the begging response in the newly hatched herring gull chick (Larus argentatus argentatus Pont.). Behaviour, 3(1), 1-39. doi:10.1163/156853951X00197.