Impact of increased predation risk on vigilance behaviour in a gregarious waterfowl, the Egyptian goose Alopochen aegyptiaca

2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Atkins ◽  
Rob M. Little ◽  
Stephen M. Redpath ◽  
Arjun Amar
Keyword(s):  
Predation Risk ◽  
Vigilance Behaviour ◽  
Egyptian Goose

Anti-predator behaviour of kudu and impala in response to mimicked African wild dog presence: do age and sex matter?

Behaviour ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 152 (9) ◽  
pp. 1209-1228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Esther van der Meer ◽  
Hervé Fritz ◽  
Olivier Pays
Keyword(s):  
Predation Risk ◽  
Lycaon Pictus ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Vigilance Behaviour ◽  
African Wild Dog ◽  
African Wild Dogs ◽  
Tragelaphus Strepsiceros ◽  
Wild Dog ◽  
Wild Dogs ◽  
Aepyceros Melampus

Predators not only prey upon certain prey species, but also on certain age–sex classes within species. Predation risk and an individual’s response to this risk might therefore vary with an individual’s characteristics. We examined the proportion of time different age–sex classes of kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros) and impala (Aepyceros melampus) spent high quality vigilant (costly vigilance that detracts from all other activities) in response to mimicked predation risk by African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus). For both species predation risk was the main factor determining the investment in high quality vigilance behaviour. Age–sex class-specific responses were not related to age–sex class specific lethality risk presented by African wild dogs. For impala, regardless of predation risk, age seemed to have some effect on the investment in high quality vigilance with sub-adult impala spending more time high quality vigilant than adult impala, which is possibly why African wild dogs predominantly preyed upon adult impala.

Do long-tailed macaques avoid large heterospecific carcasses?

Behaviour ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Jeffrey V. Peterson ◽  
Agustín Fuentes
Keyword(s):  
Predation Risk ◽  
Nonhuman Primate ◽  
Perceived Risk ◽  
Macaca Fascicularis ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Tree Line ◽  
Risk Of Predation ◽  
Vigilance Behaviour ◽  
Pathogen Avoidance

Abstract This anecdotal observation details the response of long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) to a heterospecific carcass. The subgroup of macaques we were following abruptly changed their direction of travel upon reaching a tree line while displaying silent vigilance behaviour. We later discovered a dog carcass in the area and concluded their behaviour may have been in response to the smell of that carcass. The carcass was not visible from the response point at the tree line due to its distance from that point (approximately 30 meters) and the uneven and densely vegetated terrain between. The macaques were therefore most likely responding to scent cues from the carcass. We suggest the observed vigilance behaviour is excessive under a strictly pathogen-avoidance explanation and may be understood as a response to a cue of potential predation risk. We review alternative explanations and suggest future research on nonhuman primate heterospecific carcass avoidance is necessary to fully assess the potential relation to perceived risk of predation.

Habitat choice and vigilance behaviour of brush-tailed rock-wallabies (Petrogale penicillata) within their nocturnal foraging ranges

2003 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 355 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kerryn Carter ◽  
Anne W. Goldizen
Keyword(s):  
Light Intensity ◽  
Predation Risk ◽  
Habitat Choice ◽  
Night Vision ◽  
Energy Requirements ◽  
Vigilance Behaviour ◽  
Nocturnal Foraging ◽  
Limited Food ◽  
High Winds ◽  
Foraging Ranges

Habitat choice by brush-tailed rock-wallabies (Petrogale penicillata) in south-east Queensland was investigated by comparing the attributes of the nocturnal foraging locations that they selected with those of random locations within a radius of 50 m. Brush-tailed rock-wallabies were shown to select foraging locations on the basis of forage quality and/or their ability to see predators, rather than protection from predators amongst vegetation that could conceal them. Habitat choice may have been affected by limited food availability, as this study was conducted in the winter dry season. The attributes of foraging locations that brush-tailed rock-wallabies perceived as increasing their predation risk were assessed by recording the proportion of time that brush-tailed rock-wallabies spent vigilant while foraging. To measure vigilance, focal animals were observed with a night-vision scope for two minutes and the proportions of time spent vigilant and feeding were recorded. No measured feature of foraging locations was related to higher vigilance levels, suggesting that brush-tailed rock-wallabies did not alter their vigilance whether sheltered amongst grass tussocks or in open habitat, or whether feeding on good quality or poorer quality vegetation. Vigilance levels significantly declined as overnight temperatures decreased, which may have resulted from higher energy requirements of brush-tailed rock-wallabies during winter. The only factors that were found to significantly increase vigilance levels were high winds and moonlit nights. On bright nights, brush-tailed rock-wallabies were very unsettled and during high winds they often did not emerge to feed. More information is needed about how macropods detect predators at night before the effects of wind and light intensity upon vigilance can be fully understood.

scholarly journals Negotiation may lead selfish individuals to cooperate: the example of the collective vigilance game

2012 ◽  
Vol 279 (1739) ◽  
pp. 2862-2867 ◽  
Author(s):  
Etienne Sirot
Keyword(s):  
Predation Risk ◽  
Classical Model ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Model System ◽  
Negotiation Process ◽  
Behavioural Ecology ◽  
Vigilance Behaviour ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Way

Game-theoretical models have been highly influential in behavioural ecology. However, these models generally assume that animals choose their action before observing the behaviour of their opponents while, in many natural situations, individuals in fact continuously react to the actions of others. A negotiation process then takes place and this may fundamentally influence the individual attitudes and the tendency to cooperate. Here, I use the classical model system of vigilance behaviour to demonstrate the consequences of such behavioural negotiation among selfish individuals, by predicting patterns of vigilance in a pair of animals foraging under threat of predation. I show that the game played by the animals and the resulting vigilance strategies take radically different forms, according to the way predation risk is shared in the pair. In particular, if predators choose their target at random, the prey respond by displaying moderate vigilance and taking turns scanning. By contrast, if the individual that takes flight later in an attack endures a higher risk of being targeted, vigilance increases and there is always at least one sentinel in the pair. Finally, when lagging behind its companion in fleeing from an attacker becomes extremely risky, vigilance decreases again and the animals scan simultaneously.

scholarly journals Sleeping gulls monitor the vigilance behaviour of their neighbours

2008 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guy Beauchamp
Keyword(s):  
Predation Risk ◽  
Group Size ◽  
Complex Flow ◽  
Vigilance Behaviour ◽  
Flow Of Information

Individuals in groups are often thought to scan their surroundings for threats independently of one another. Models, however, suggest that foragers should monitor the vigilance level of their neighbours to prevent cheating, and to gather information about incipient predation risk. Evidence for monitoring of vigilance is scant. Here, I examined changes in vigilance levels in sleeping gulls ( Larus sp.) surrounded by neighbours in various states of alertness. Controlling for group size and neighbour density, gulls interrupted sleep more often to scan their surroundings, and were therefore more vigilant, when their neighbours were alert rather than sleeping or preening. The results provide evidence for copying of vigilance within groups of birds, suggesting a complex flow of information about predation risk in groups.

scholarly journals Vigilance and foraging behaviour of female caribou in relation to predation risk

Rangifer ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pernille S. Bøving ◽  
Eric Post
Keyword(s):  
Predation Risk ◽  
Group Size ◽  
Rangifer Tarandus ◽  
Foraging Behaviour ◽  
West Greenland ◽  
Vigilance Behaviour ◽  
Calving Season ◽  
Lying Down ◽  
Behavioural Adaptations

Behaviour of female caribou (Rangifer tarandus) was investigated during the calving season on ranges in Alaska and West Greenland with the purpose of determining whether investment in vigilance behaviour differed between areas with and without natural predators of caribou. Female caribou in Alaska foraged in larger groups, displayed a higher rate of vigilance during feeding, spent less time feeding and, when lying, more often adopted a vigilant posture (with head up) than did female caribou in West Greenland. Moreover, a predation-vulnerable posture of lying down flat was observed in West Greenland but not in Alaska. Within Alaska, females with calves spent more time searching the environment than did those without calves. Finally, the amount of time individuals spent searching declined more gradually with group size in Alaska than in West Greenland, suggesting that what caribou perceive as a predator-safe threshold differs in the two areas. These results indicate that caribou, like several other species of ungulates, show behavioural adaptations to the risk of prédation which are relaxed when this risk is reduced.

Vigilance in human groups: a test of alternative hypotheses

Behaviour ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 139 (5) ◽  
pp. 695-711 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
◽  
◽  
Keyword(s):  
Predation Risk ◽  
Group Size ◽  
Inverse Relationship ◽  
Mate Guarding ◽  
Mate Searching ◽  
Clear Cut ◽  
Vigilance Behaviour ◽  
Alternative Hypotheses

AbstractHumans exhibit the same inverse relationship between group size and vigilance rates that has been classically described in animals. We collected data on natural human vigilance behaviour in two different contemporary environments (a large refectory-style cafeteria and open parks) to test between four alternative hypotheses for this relationship: predation risk, searching for friends, mate searching and mate guarding. The results demonstrate that, at least in contemporary city environments, humans monitor their surroundings largely for reasons motivated by mate searching. Data on whom subjects look at in a busy environment indicate that males are significantly more likely to attend differentially to female passers-by, but that females show a less clear-cut discrimination. We conclude that vigilance patterns are determined by locally salient functions.

Elevated nest predation risk promotes offspring size variation in birds with prolonged parental care.

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gretchen F. Wagner ◽  
Emeline Mourocq ◽  
Michael Griesser
Keyword(s):  
Predation Risk ◽  
Reproductive Cycle ◽  
Perceived Risk ◽  
Nest Predation ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Size Variation ◽  
Egg Laying ◽  
Offspring Size ◽  
Natural Predation ◽  
Risk Spreading

Predation of offspring is the main cause of reproductive failure in many species, and the mere fear of offspring predation shapes reproductive strategies. Yet, natural predation risk is ubiquitously variable and can be unpredictable. Consequently, the perceived prospect of predation early in a reproductive cycle may not reflect the actual risk to ensuing offspring. An increased variance in investment across offspring has been linked to breeding in unpredictable environments in several taxa, but has so far been overlooked as a maternal response to temporal variation in predation risk. Here, we experimentally increased the perceived risk of nest predation prior to egg-laying in seven bird species. Species with prolonged parent-offspring associations increased their intra-brood variation in egg, and subsequently offspring, size. High risk to offspring early in a reproductive cycle can favour a risk-spreading strategy particularly in species with the greatest opportunity to even out offspring quality after fledging.

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