California scrub-jays reduce visual cues available to potential pilferers by matching food colour to caching substrate.

ABSTRACT: Some animals hide food to consume later; however, these caches are susceptible to theft by conspecifics and heterospecifics. Caching animals can use protective strategies to minimize sensory cues available to potential pilferers, such as caching in shaded areas and in quiet substrate. Background matching (where object patterning matches the visual background) is commonly seen in prey animals to reduce conspicuousness, and caching animals may also use this tactic to hide caches, for example, by hiding coloured food in a similar coloured substrate. We tested whether California scrub-jays (Aphelocoma californica) camouflage their food in this way by offering them caching substrates that either matched or did not match the colour of food available for caching. We also determined whether

SUBMITTER: Kelley LA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5543024 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature