Decision time modulates social foraging success in wild common ravens, Corvus corax.

ABSTRACT: Social foraging provides several benefits for individuals but also bears the potential costs of higher competition. In some species, such competition arises through kleptoparasitism, that is when an animal takes food which was caught or collected by a member of its social group. Except in the context of caching, few studies have investigated how individuals avoid kleptoparasitism, which could be based on physical strength/dominance but also cognitive skills. Here, we investigated the foraging success of wild common ravens, Corvus corax, experiencing high levels of kleptoparasitism from conspecifics when snatching food from the daily feedings of captive wild boars in a game park in the Austrian Alps. Success in keeping the food depended mainly on the individuals' age class and was po

SUBMITTER: Gallego-Abenza M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7079088 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature