ANIMAL INSTINCT

The behavior represents the interface between an animal and its environment. Behavioral responses are usually the most flexible and are a rapid way for the animal to promote survival.

SIMPLE AND COMPLEX BEHAVIORS INCLUDE:• Instinct,• Habituation,• Conditioning,• Reasoning, • Intelligence, and• Imprinting.

Instinct – unlearned behaviors that an animal exhibits from time of birth. Instincts or reflexes seem to be preprogrammed in the central nervous system to respond to specific stimuli in certain ways.

An instinct is a behavior that is acted out, not done by free will or choice. Animals react to things without thinking about it and the reaction they had was completely functional the first time they performed it.

At birth, all mammals have the instinct to nurse.A mother has an instinct to care for her young.

 proboscis monkeys have an instinct for swimming

 Dolphins instinctively know how to swim

 The honeybee pictured below has found a source of food (Figure below). When the bee returns to its hive, it will do a dance. This dance is called the waggle dance. The way the bee moves during its dance tells other bees in the hive where to find the food. Honeybees can do the waggle dance without learning it from other bees, so it is an innate behavior.

 the chicks open their mouths wide whenever the mother returns to the nest

Graylag geese make nests on the ground. If an egg rolls out of the nest, a mother goose uses her bill to push it back into the nest. Returning the egg to the nest helps ensure that the egg will hatch.

spider is busy spinning a web.

cat is stalking a mouse. It is a hunter by nature.

Ethology is the study of animal behavior in the animal’s natural habitat.