ORE Open Research Exeter TITLE Escape distance in ground-nesting birds differs with individual level of camouflage AUTHORS Wilson-Aggarwal, J; Troscianko, J; Stevens, M; et al. JOURNAL American Naturalist DEPOSITED IN ORE 30 March 2016 This version available at http://hdl.handle.net/10871/20871 COPYRIGHT AND REUSE Open Research Exeter makes this work available in accordance with publisher policies. A NOTE ON VERSIONS The version presented here may differ from the published version. If citing, you are advised to consult the published version for pagination, volume/issue and date of publication Escape distance in ground-nesting birds differs with individual level of camouflage Authors: J.K. Wilson-Aggarwal*1, J.T. Troscianko1, M. Stevens†1 and C.N. Spottiswoode2,3 Corresponding Authors: *
[email protected] †
[email protected] 1 Centre for Ecology & Conservation, College of Life & Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn, Cornwall, TR10 9FE, UK. 2 University of Cambridge, Department of Zoology, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK 3 DST-NRF Centre of Excellence at the Percy FitzPatrick Institute, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa Key words Camouflage, background matching, escape behaviour, ground-nesting birds, incubation To be published as an article with supplementary materials in the expanded online edition. Includes: Abstract, introduction, methods, results, discussion, figure 1, figure 2, table 1, online appendix A, figure A1 and table A1. 1 Abstract Camouflage is one of the most widespread anti-predator strategies in the animal kingdom, yet no animal can match its background perfectly in a complex environment. Therefore, selection should favour individuals that use information on how effective their camouflage is in their immediate habitat when responding to an approaching threat.