Peregrine falcons shift mean and variance in provisioning in response to increasing brood demand.

ABSTRACT: The hierarchical model of provisioning posits that parents employ a strategic, sequential use of three provisioning tactics as offspring demand increases (e.g., due to increasing brood size and age). Namely, increasing delivery rate (reducing intervals between provisioning visits), expanding provisioned diet breadth, and adopting variance-sensitive provisioning. We evaluated this model in an Arctic breeding population of Peregrine falcons (Falco peregrinus tundrius) by analyzing changes in inter-visit-intervals (IVIs) and residual variance in IVIs across 7 study years. Data were collected using motion-sensitive nest camera images and analyzed using Bayesian mixed effect models. We found strong support for a decrease in IVIs (i.e., increase in delivery rates) between provisioning vis

SUBMITTER: McKinnon RA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10746350 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jan-Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature