Food patch depletion by ruddy ducks: foraging by expectation rules

1989 ◽  
Vol 67 (11) ◽  
pp. 2751-2755 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael W. Tome
Keyword(s):  
Foraging Behavior ◽  
Prey Density ◽  
Patch Quality ◽  
Food Patch ◽  
Ruddy Ducks ◽  
Patch Depletion ◽  
Glass Aquarium ◽  
Oxyura Jamaicensis

The foraging behavior of six ruddy ducks (Oxyura jamaicensis) was studied in a large concrete and glass aquarium to determine if they used either a number or time expectation rule to decide when to leave a patch of food. Nine trials were conducted in which the prey density in each of two food patches remained constant for three consecutive trials and then was changed. If the foraging ruddy ducks were using an expectation rule to determine when to leave a patch, then the time spent in the patch (time expectation) or number of prey consumed from the patch (number expectation) should not change with a change in patch quality. The results of this experiment were not consistent with the predictions of either the time or number expectation rule. Thus, ruddy ducks appear to use some other measure to determine the appropriate time to leave a food patch.

scholarly journals Optimal foraging: food patch depletion by ruddy ducks

Oecologia ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 76 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael W. Tome
Keyword(s):  
Optimal Foraging ◽  
Food Patch ◽  
Ruddy Ducks ◽  
Patch Depletion

scholarly journals Information gleaned and former patch quality determine foraging behavior of parasitic wasps

2011 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 1064-1069 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Louâpre ◽  
J. van Baaren ◽  
J.S. Pierre ◽  
J.J.M. van Alphen
Keyword(s):  
Foraging Behavior ◽  
Patch Quality ◽  
Parasitic Wasps

scholarly journals Consequences of Egg Size for Offspring Survival: A Cross-Fostering Experiment in Ruddy Ducks (Oxyura Jamaicensis)

The Auk ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 120 (2) ◽  
pp. 384-393
Author(s):  
Jeffrey T. Pelayo ◽  
Robert G. Clark
Keyword(s):  
Egg Size ◽  
Hatching Date ◽  
Offspring Survival ◽  
Maternal Influences ◽  
Size Dependent ◽  
Duck Species ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Ruddy Ducks ◽  
Cross Fostering ◽  
Oxyura Jamaicensis

Abstract In birds, large egg size often enhances subsequent offspring survival, but most previous studies have been unable to separate effects of egg size from other maternal influences. Therefore, we first evaluated variance components of egg size both within and among individual female Ruddy Ducks (Oxyura jamaicensis), and then tested for egg-size-dependent survival of ducklings in the wild by switching complete broods among females. Forty broods consisting of 244 individually color-marked, day-old ducklings of known egg size were given to foster mothers, and survival was monitored to one month. Analysis of mark–resighting data showed that offspring survival was best modeled to include effects of egg size and hatching date; survival probability increased with egg size, but declined with advancing hatching date. Duckling body mass, body size, and body condition measured at hatching were positively correlated with egg size. Unlike most other duck species, and for reasons that are speculative, egg sizes varied within clutches nearly as much as they did among clutches. Selective mortality of small egg phenotypes during the first weeks after hatching likely is the result of smaller duckling size and reduced energy reserves, characteristics that must be particularly unfavorable in adverse environments.

scholarly journals Public information for the assessment of quality: a widespread social phenomenon

2002 ◽  
Vol 357 (1427) ◽  
pp. 1549-1557 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas J. Valone ◽  
Jennifer J. Templeton
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Work ◽  
Public Information ◽  
Environmental Parameters ◽  
Patch Quality ◽  
Social Phenomenon ◽  
Food Patch ◽  
Complete Understanding ◽  
Future Work ◽  
Benefits And Costs

We propose that the use of public information about the quality of environmental resources, obtained by monitoring the sampling behaviour of others, may be a widespread social phenomenon allowing individuals to make faster, more accurate assessments of their environment. To demonstrate this (i) we define public information and distinguish it from other kinds of social information; (ii) we review empirical work demonstrating the benefits and costs of using public information to estimate food patch quality; (iii) we examine recent work showing that individuals may also be using public information to improve their estimates of the quality of such disparate environmental parameters as breeding patches, opponents and mates; and finally (iv) we suggest avenues of future work to better understand the nature of public information use and when it might be used or ignored. Such work should lead to a more complete understanding of the behaviour of individuals in social aggregations.

Underwater Foraging Behavior of Canvasbacks, Lesser Scaups, and Ruddy Ducks

The Condor ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 90 (1) ◽  
pp. 168-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael W. Tome ◽  
Dale A. Wrubleski
Keyword(s):  
Foraging Behavior ◽  
Ruddy Ducks

scholarly journals The Prediction of Daily Intake in Grazing Cattle Using Methodologies, Models and Experiments that Integrate Pasture Structure and Ingestive Behavior

1994 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eugene D. Ungar ◽  
Montague W. Demment ◽  
Uri M. Peiper ◽  
Emilio A. Laca ◽  
Mario Gutman
Keyword(s):  
Foraging Behavior ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Daily Intake ◽  
Ingestive Behavior ◽  
Search Pattern ◽  
Intake Rate ◽  
Time And Space ◽  
Grazing Cattle ◽  
Feeding Station ◽  
Patch Depletion

This project addressed the prediction of daily intake in grazing cattle using methodologies, models and experiments that integrate pasture structure and ingestive behavior. The broad objective was to develop concepts of optimal foraging that predicted ingestive behavior and instantaneous intake rate in single and multi-patch environments and extend them to the greater scales of time and space required to predict daily intake. Specific objectives included: to determine how sward structure affects the shape of patch depletion curves, to determine if the basic components of ingestive behavior of animals in groups differs from animals alone, and to evaluate and modify our existing models of foraging behavior and heterogeneity to incorporate larger scales of time and space. Patch depletion was found to be predominantly by horizon, with a significant decline in bite weight during horizon depletion. This decline derives from bite overlap, and is more pronounced on taller swards. These results were successfully predicted by a simple bite placement simulator. At greater spatial scales, patch selection was aimed at maximizing daily digestible intake, with the between patch search pattern being non-random. The processes of selecting a feeding station and foraging at a feeding station are fundamentally different. The marginal value theorem may not be the most appropriate paradigm for predicting residence time at a feeding station. Basic components of ingestive behavior were unaffected by the presence of other animals. Our results contribute to animal production systems by improving our understanding of the foraging process, by identifying the key sward parameters that determine intake rate and by improving existing conceptual and quantitative models of foraging behavior across spatial and temporal scales.

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