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An animal's decreasing response to a stimulus with repeated exposure to it. Example: A flock of birds gradually ignoring scarecrows.

Learning behaviors from observing the actions of others. Example: Young chimps learn to use tools by watching older members of the group.

The defensive behavior animals show to protect their territory. Example: A male lion roaring to deter intruders and protect its pride's territory.

A form of natural selection in which behaviors that increase the surviving chances of relatives are favored, even if they reduce the individual's own survival and reproduction chances. Example: A squirrel risking its life to save its offspring or siblings from a predator.

The behavior animals use to find, capture, consume food. Example: A bear may forage for berries or hunt for fish as a part of its varied diet.

When a predatory animal reverts to its instinctive hunting behavior, often focusing on smaller animals. Example: A domestic cat suddenly attacking small moving objects, reverting to its predatory instincts.

A form of learning in which a young animal fixes its attention on the first object with which it has visual, auditory, or tactile experience and thereafter follows that object. Example: A duckling following a human if it's the first moving object seen.

Behavioral adaptation of being active during the night and sleeping during the day. Example: Owls are well-known for being nocturnal hunters.

The relatively long-distance movement of individuals, usually on a seasonal basis. Example: Arctic terns migrate from Arctic breeding grounds to the Antarctic and back each year.

Learning that occurs when an animal makes a connection between two events. Example: A dog salivating when it hears a bell if the bell has been regularly associated with food.

A type of learning where behavior is controlled by consequences. Example: Training a dog to sit by giving it a treat when it sits on command.

Behavior of an animal that benefits another at its own expense. Example: A meerkat standing guard to warn others of predators, putting itself at risk.

A learning process that pairs a previously neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus to elicit a conditioned response. Example: Pavlov's dogs salivating at the sound of a bell that was previously paired with the presentation of food.

The movement of individuals away from their place of birth or activity centers; it serves to reduce inbreeding and competition among relatives. Example: Juvenile male lions leave their pride to prevent inbreeding and find new territories.

A mating system where a male mates with multiple females. Example: A single male elephant seal that defends a beach with multiple females is practicing polygyny.

Behavior where an individual aids another without immediate benefit to itself. Example: Meerkats taking turns being the lookout for the group while others forage or rest.

A biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. Example: A lion hunting and killing a zebra on the plains of Africa.

Behavior that is genetically hardwired and does not depend on environmental factors or learning. Example: Sea turtles hatching and instinctively moving towards the sea.

When one species lays its eggs in the nest of another species, leaving the host to care for the offspring. Example: The cuckoo is known to practice brood parasitism frequently.

A mating system in which one male mates with one female exclusively. Example: Swans are often cited as an example of monogamous animals that mate for life.

A range of voluntary, intrinsically motivated activities normally associated with recreational pleasure and enjoyment. Example: Kittens chasing each other and play-fighting to learn hunting skills.

Behavior related to fighting, including threats, aggression, and submission, typically occurring between individuals of the same species when competing for resources or mates. Example: Bighorn sheep ramming their heads in contests for dominance and mating rights.

A mating system where a female has multiple male partners. Example: Female red-necked phalaropes are larger and more brightly colored and mate with multiple males which perform the incubation of the eggs.

A series of display behaviors by which animals attract a mate and maintain pair bonding. Example: Peacocks spreading their elaborate tail feathers to attract females.

A sequence of unlearned acts directly linked to a simple stimulus. Example: A goose always rolling back a similar-shaped object into the nest, if it is displaced, due to their innate egg-retrieval behavior.

An inborn pattern of behavior that is characteristic of a species and is often a response to specific environmental stimuli. Example: A newborn kangaroo instinctively climbing into its mother's pouch.

The transfer of information from one animal to another, such as through sounds, movements, or smells. Example: Bees perform a waggle dance to communicate the location of food sources to other members of the hive.

A close and often long-term interaction between two different biological species. Example: Oxpeckers feed on ticks and parasites found on the skin of large mammals like hippos.