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The predatory behavior of wintering Accipiter hawks: temporal patterns in activity of predators and prey

  • Behavioral Ecology
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Abstract

Studies focused on how prey trade-off predation and starvation risk are prevalent in behavioral ecology. However, our current understanding of these trade-offs is limited in one key respect: we know little about the behavior of predators. In this study, we provide some of the first detailed information on temporal patterns in the daily hunting behavior of bird-eating Accipiter hawks and relate that to their prey. During the winters of 1999–2004, twenty-one sharp-shinned hawks (A. striatus) and ten Cooper’s hawks (A. cooperii) were intensively radio tracked in rural and urban habitats in western Indiana, USA. Cooper’s hawks left roost before sunrise and usually returned to roost around sunset, while sharp-shinned hawks left roost at sunrise or later and returned to roost well before sunset. An overall measure of Cooper’s-hawk-induced risk (a composite variable of attack rate and activity patterns) generally reflected the timing of prey activity, with peaks occurring around sunrise and sunset. In contrast, risk induced by the smaller sharp-shinned hawk did not strongly reflect the activity of their prey. Specifically, an early morning peak in prey activity did not correspond to a period with intense hawk activity. The lack of early morning hunting by sharp-shinned hawks may reflect the high risk of owl-induced predation experienced by these hawks. The net effect of this intraguild predation may be to “free” small birds from much hawk-induced predation risk prior to sunrise. This realization presents an alternative to energetics as an explanation for the early morning peak in small bird activity during the winter.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Bill Vetter, Trey Franklin, and our many field technicians for their assistance with hawk tracking. Mike Russell provided assistance with information on owl diet. We would also like to thank local businesses, land owners (especially M. Evrard, J. Irwin, C. Martin, and C. Miller), and the Terre Haute Parks Department for their cooperation. John Castrale, Burt Kotler, Peter Scott, and anonymous reviewers provided helpful comments on drafts of this paper. This research was supported in part by the National Science Foundation (grant IBN-0130758), the Indiana Academy of Sciences, and the Indiana State University Department of Ecology and Organismal Biology and School of Graduate Studies. This research adhered to guidelines for the use of animals in research, was reviewed and approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee at Indiana State University, and followed all federal and state regulations for the collection and marking of wild animals.

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  1. Department of Ecology & Organismal Biology, Indiana State University, Terre Haute, IN, 47809, USA

    Timothy C. Roth II & Steven L. Lima

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  1. Timothy C. Roth II
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  2. Steven L. Lima
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Correspondence to Timothy C. Roth II.

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Communicated by Steven Kohler.

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Roth, T.C., Lima, S.L. The predatory behavior of wintering Accipiter hawks: temporal patterns in activity of predators and prey. Oecologia 152, 169–178 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-006-0638-2

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