Presentation Details
| Social connections, group size and social stability affect foraging in mixed songbird flocks Michael S Reichert1, 2, Josh A Firth3, 4, Camille Troisi2, 5, John L Quinn2. 1Department of Biology, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, USA.2School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University College Cork, Cork Ireland.3Department of Biology, Edward Grey Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford United Kingdom.4Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds United Kingdom.5Ethologie animale et humaine, Université de Rennes, Rennes France |
Abstract
The social environment provides both opportunities and challenges for foragers. We tested whether production learning, scrounging, and foraging rate are associated with individual social network metrics and manipulated social stability in mixed species flocks of wild birds. Individuals were randomly allowed access to, and learned to forage primarily from, one of five feeders. Thereafter, we performed two reversals, manipulating social connections by either assigning birds to a new feeder along with all others assigned to their previous feeder (stable treatment) or reassigning each bird individually (unstable treatment). Most of the effects observed were context dependent. We found that: i) Learning was slower in the stable treatment, for individuals with higher weighted degree, and in smaller flocks; ii) Scrounging was higher in the stable treatment, increased with weighted degree, but decreased with flock size; and iii) Foraging rate was predicted only by weighted degree. Our findings demonstrate the complex and dynamic nature of the relationship between sociality and foraging and suggest that selection for group living is more nuanced than usually recognized.
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