Summary
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1.
Interspecific aggression is viewed as a device of behavioral interference employed in resource competition with individuals of other species. Aggression-mediated competition is costly in terms of time and energy invested as well as increased risk of injury or predation. Consequently, natural selection should favor recognition of competitors and differential aggression depending upon the degree of competitive overlap.
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2.
Mockingbirds (Mimus polyglottos) inhabiting a residential area in the piedmont region of South Carolina (USA) maintain winter feeding territories within which they defend fruit-laden trees and shrubs. Several of the many species occurring with the mockingbird in the study area are frugivorous and represent to varying degrees resource competitors, thus offering an opportunity to study interspecific aggression.
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Field observations of mockingbird interactions with members of other species reveal that frugivores provoke mockingbird aggression while non-frugivores are essentially ignored. Moreover, the aggressiveness is directly proportional to the extent of frugivory among competitors.
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Moore, F.R. Interspecific aggression: Toward whom should a mockingbird be aggressive?. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 3, 173–176 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00294988
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00294988