Nest prospecting brown-headed cowbirds 'parasitize' social information when the value of personal information is lacking.

Brood parasites face considerable cognitive challenges in locating and selecting host nests for their young. Here, we test whether female brown-headed cowbirds, Molothrus ater, could use information acquired from observing the nest prospecting patterns of conspecifics to influence their own patterns of nest selection. In laboratory-based experiments, we created a disparity in the amount of personal information females had about the quality of nests. Females with less personal information about the quality of two nests spent more time investigating the nest that more knowledgeable females investigated. Furthermore, there was a strong negative relationship between individual's ability to track nest quality using personal information and their tendency to copy others. These two contrasting strategies for selecting nests are equally effective, but lead to different patterns of parasitism.

'Sociability' affects the intensity of mate-choice copying in female guppies, Poecilia reticulata.

Selecting a quality mate can involve acquiring and accessing large amounts of information; information that can be obtained either independently or socially. One means of learning about mates socially is to attend to other members of one's sex and copy their mate choices. It is possible however that not all individuals of a species benefit equally from, or are equally effective at, copying. We examined whether female guppies copied the mate choices of other females. Then, in a separate context we measured each female's 'sociability': their proclivity to affiliate with other guppies. In the mate-choice copying procedure, 'focal' females chose to spend time near two putative mates. Next, focals observed another (model) female interact with the focal's non-preferred male. Finally, the focal again chose between the same two males. For sociability, we examined the time focal females spent near a trio of other guppies. Females did indeed mate copy: they spent more time with their non-preferred male when a model female had been seen interacting with that male. The effect however was highly variable. Sociability significantly predicted the intensity of mate-choice copying. Results suggest that individuals vary consistently in the types of information they use when making mating decisions.