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Predation Risk and Feeding Site Preferences in Winter Foraging Birds

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Predation Risk and Feeding Site Preferences in Winter Foraging Birds Eastern Illinois University The Keep Masters Theses Student Theses & Publications 1992 Predation Risk and Feeding Site Preferences in Winter Foraging Birds Yen-min Kuo This research is a product of the graduate program in Zoology at Eastern Illinois University. Find out more about the program. Recommended Citation Kuo, Yen-min, "Predation Risk and Feeding Site Preferences in Winter Foraging Birds" (1992). Masters Theses. 2199. https://thekeep.eiu.edu/theses/2199 This is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Theses & Publications at The Keep. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses by an authorized administrator of The Keep. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THESIS REPRODUCTION CERTIFICATE TO: Graduate Degree Car1dichi.tes who have written formal theses. SUBJECT: Permission to reproduce theses. The University Library is receiving a number of requests from other institutions asking permission to reproduce dissertations for inclusion in their library holdings. Although no copyright laws are involved~ we feel that professional courtesy demands that permission be obtained from the author before we ~llow theses to be copied. Please sign one of the following statements: Booth Library o! Eastern Illinois University has my permission to lend my thesis tq a reputable college or university for the purpose of copying it for inclul!lion in that institution's library or research holdings. Date I respectfully request Booth Library of Eastern Illinois University not allow my thesis be reproduced because ~~~~~~-~~~~~~~ Date Author m Predaton risk and feeding site preferences in winter foraging oirds (Tllll) BY Yen-min Kuo THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF Master of Science in Zoology IN TH£ GRADUATE SCHOOL, EASTERN ILLINOIS UNIVfRSITY CHARLESTON, ILLINOIS 1992 YEAR I HEREBY R£COMMEND THIS THESIS BE ACCEPTED AS FULFILLING THIS PART or THE GRADUATE DEGREE CITED ABOVE 2f vov. l'ft:lz, DAil ABSTRACT A foraging animal's choice of feeding location may represent a trade­ off between maximizing its energy or nutrient intake and avoiding predation. In the present study, two hypotheses were investigated to test the influence of predation risk on feeding site preferences of birds: 1) there are differences among the preferences of feeding heights of birds, 2) the magnitude of preference increases with increasing predation risk found in different habitats. In my study site, three feeding stations (located in the woods, the woods/field edge, and an open field) each containing three feeders (0 m, 1.5 m, and 3 m from the ground) were established for attracting winter birds. I found that birds apparently perceived different degrees of predation risk in the different habitats and responded accordingly. Birds visited the woods and edge stations significantly more than the open field station. In all three habitats, the birds preferred the higher feeders. As a probable consequence of the trade-off between foraging efficiency and predation risk, the preferences of feeder heights changed over the course of the experimental sessions in different patterns· in the different habitats. At the woods station, the birds tended to maximize their foraging efficiency. They changed their feeding heights more according to the seed densities on the feeding tray, and shifted to the lower feeders earlier. In contrast, birds preferred the high feeder throughout the experimental period at the open field station. At the edge station, birds shifted to the lower feeders later than at the woods station. In addition, the frequency of aggressive encounters between birds decreased with increasing openness of the habitat. These results supported the following conclusions: 1) the preferences of feeding height increased with increasing distance from the ground; 2) the preferences of feeding habitat decreased with increasing openness of habitats; 3) the intensity of the preferences for the higher feeding sites increase with increasing openness of habitats; and 4) these feeding site preferences could be adaptive behaviors to reduce the predation risk perceived by birds in different habitats and different feeding heights. i i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I thank my graduate committee members: Dr. Eric K. Bollinger, Dr. Kipp C. Kruse, Dr. Clay L. Pierce, and Dr. Edward 0. Moll for their helpful advice and critical reading of this paper. I especially wish to express my gratitude to Dr. Eric K. Bollinger, my advisor, for his encouragement and support during my graduate study and research. I am indebted to him for his careful revising of this thesis. I am grateful to Fox Ridge State Park and the Illinois Department of Conservation for giving me permission to conduct my research within the park, to the Physical Plant of Eastern Illinois University and David Lee for providing the materials for the construction of the feeding stations, and to Mr. Fred Decker for generous! y dona ting the sunflower seeds used in this study. I would like to express my hearty gratitude to my friends in the United States and in Taiwan for their moral support, especially to Amber Wu, Ya-Fu Lee, Hsueh Niang Chen, Marcy Kuo, Tony Chen, Eric Linder, and Jerry Chen. They always offered help enthusiastically whenever I needed it and made my research an unforgettable memory. My deepest gratitude goes to Dr. Lucia L. Severinghaus who led me into this wonderful worlds of avian ecology and research and strengthened me with proper training and encouragement. iii Finally, I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to my parents. I owe them the tears they have shed for me for these years while I was far away. I wish to thank them for their understanding, financial aid, and moral support of my graduate study. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract......................................................................................................................... i Acknowledgements.................................................................................................. iii Table of contents ........................................................................................................ v Literature review ....................................................................................................... 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 12 Methods ...................................................................................................................... 15 Results......................................................................................................................... 20 Discussion .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 33 Literature cited ........................................................................................................... 46 Tables ........................................................................................................................... 50 Figures ......................................................................................................................... 71 v LITERATURE REVIEW The risk of predation affects the foraging behavior of birds in many ways. First of all, it is one of the fundamental forces of group formation. Birds may forage in groups to reduce the risk of predation by reducing the probability of being attacked (Hamilton, 1971; Baker, 1978; Caraco et al., 1980a; Waite and Grubb, 1987). They also gain the advantage of spending less time scanning for predators and more time feeding (Powell, 1974; Caraco, 1979a; Caraco, 1979b; Caraco, 1980; Caraco et al., 1980b; Mangel, 1990). Within feeding groups, predation pressure can affect both the interspecific or intraspecific competition among group members (Dhondt, 1989). This often leads to social organization associated with unequal costs and benefits among group members within the feeding group. For example, high-ranking birds often occupy the more profitable feeding sites, which provide either higher net energy return or more effective protection from predators, or both. They typically force the subordinate birds to feed in less profitable areas ( Alatalo, 1981; Alatalo and Moreno, 1987; Alatalo et al., 1987; Caraco et al., 1989), in which the subordinates spend more time scanning for predators than the dominants which feed at safer sites (Waite, 1987). Predation risk and social foraging A common answer to the question "why feed in a group?" has been to reduce the risk of both starvation and predation (Krebs et al., 1972; Powell, 1974; Mangel and Clark, 1986; Ekman, 1987; Mangel, 1990). A number of 1 studies designed to test these hypotheses about predation pressure and group formation have employed a common design. Researchers have used "time" as a currency to measure the costs and benefits of individuals feeding in different group sizes, or under the presence or absence of predators. They recorded and categorized a bird's behavior as: 1) scanning for predators; 2) feeding; or 3) interference. These three categories are assumed to be mutually exclusive and to encompass all the activities of the birds at a feeding site. The time that the birds allocated in the different behaviors was then compared under different treatments. These "time budget" studies have provided evidence that birds in flocks are more effective than single birds in detecting predators (Powell, 1974). Furthermore, they have shown that both the
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