Abstract
Foraging with others can reduce predation risk but may increase competition for resources. Species, sex, or age classes may use different niches to reduce competition for food, which may be enforced by social dominance or may lead to ecological specialization. An alternate hypothesis is that individuals using resource patches that renew over time intentionally avoid recently depleted patches by avoiding each other. We tested these hypotheses by simultaneously radio-tracking northern flicker (Colaptes auratus) mates. Members of a pair rarely foraged in the same patch, spending over 90 % of the time >50 m apart. Counter to the ecological specialization hypothesis, the types of ground cover used for foraging and the distance of foraging patches from cover and edge did not differ between males and females. Mates were more spatially segregated on the home range than random and males foraged closer to the nest than females, but we never saw agonistic behaviors counter to the dominance hypothesis. Both sexes avoided returning to the same foraging location repeatedly, perhaps because of prey depletion. We suggest that members of a pair avoided foraging close to each other to reduce encounters with depleted prey patches. We emphasize the importance of simultaneous tracking of mates to identify foraging strategies and potential niche segregation at the home range scale.
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Acknowledgments
We thank J. Allsop, B. Griffiths, H. Hanbridge, M. Mitsutani, A. Musgrove, and M. Van der Pol for their help in the field. This research was funded by the Kenneth Molson Foundation, National Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Discovery (KLW), NSERC Canada Graduate Scholarship (EAG), the Society of Canadian Ornithologists, and the Isabel Maria López Matínez Memorial Scholarship (EAG).
Ethical standards
Our research was conducted in accordance with the Canadian Council on Animal Care guidelines for birds and was approved by the University of Saskatchewan Animal Care Committee (Animal Care Permit 20010113).
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Communicated by S. Pruett-Jones
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Gow, E.A., Wiebe, K.L. Northern flicker mates foraging on renewing patches within home ranges avoid competition not by separate niches but by segregation. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 69, 101–108 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-014-1822-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-014-1822-8