But why was there no evidence that birds reduce their preference
when they have an unsuccessful breeding experience?Well, the role
of learning in the building behaviour of zebra finches might be even
more sophisticated than initially hypothesized. Muth and Healy’s
results suggest that such learning might be context dependent; in
other words, zebra finches might learn differently under different
circumstances. For example, unsuccessful breeding attempts are
common in nature. Therefore, the selection pressure for abandoning
a preference for a particular type of nest-building material after
a single unsuccessful breeding attempt might be weak