Fine-scale tracking reveals visual field use for predator detection and escape in collective foraging of pigeon flocks.

ABSTRACT: During collective vigilance, it is commonly assumed that individual animals compromise their feeding time to be vigilant against predators, benefiting the entire group. One notable issue with this assumption concerns the unclear nature of predator 'detection', particularly in terms of vision. It remains uncertain how a vigilant individual utilizes its high-acuity vision (such as the fovea) to detect a predator cue and subsequently guide individual and collective escape responses. Using fine-scale motion-capture technologies, we tracked the head and body orientations of pigeons (hence reconstructed their visual fields and foveal projections) foraging in a flock during simulated predator attacks. Pigeons used their fovea to inspect predator cues. Earlier foveation on a predator cue was linke

SUBMITTER: Delacoux M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11392528 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature