Observational studies in the wild suggest that birds select material to build their nests based on functional aspects of material that promote reproductive success. How birds select material for nest building from the variety of materials available in their environment is unclear. In the current laboratory experiment we manipulated breeding success (i.e. raising fledglings) of zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) pairs to test if this affects the subsequent selection of nest material between a familiar versus a novel material, that differ in structural properties. All birds experienced one breeding attempt using coconut fiber as nest material during which their breeding success was manipulated: half of the breeding pairs fledged their nestlings while the remaining pairs had their eggs removed to simulate nest failure. In a second nest-building attempt, all pairs were given access to both familiar nesting material (coconut fiber) and a novel nesting material (white cotton string). Pairs that were successful in their first breeding attempt built their second nest with significantly more familiar material compared to novel material. Pairs that were unsuccessful, however, incorporated similar amounts of familiar and novel material in their second attempt. Our results show that experiencing either a successful or an unsuccessful breeding attempt influences how birds select between familiar and novel material with different structural properties (e.g. flexibility, thickness) to build a second nest. Moreover, our experiment shows that learning from experience plays an important role for decision making in future structure-building endeavors.

在野外进行的观察研究表明，鸟类会根据促进生殖成功的物质功能方面来选择物质来筑巢。目前尚不清楚鸟类如何从其环境中可用的各种材料中选择用于筑巢的材料。在当前的实验室实验中，我们控制了斑马雀（Taeniopygia guttata）的繁殖成功（即，提高雏鸟））配对，以测试这是否影响随后在结构特性不同的熟悉材料与新型材料之间选择嵌套材料。所有的鸟类都经历了一次尝试使用椰子纤维作为筑巢材料的繁殖尝试，在此过程中操纵了它们的繁殖成功：一半的成对繁殖出雏，而剩余的成对则摘下卵以模拟繁殖失败。在第二次筑巢尝试中，使所有成对的人们都可以使用熟悉的筑巢材料（椰子纤维）和新型筑巢材料（白色棉线）。在第一次育种尝试中成功的配对使用比新材料更熟悉的材料建造第二个巢。但是，失败的夫妇在第二次尝试中加入了相似数量的熟悉和新颖的材料。我们的结果表明，成功或不成功的繁殖尝试都会影响鸟类如何在熟悉和新颖的具有不同结构特性（例如柔韧性，厚度）的材料之间进行选择，以建立第二个巢。而且，我们的实验表明，从经验中学习对于将来的结构构建工作中的决策起着重要作用。