Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology

, Volume 15, Issue 4, pp 281–285 | Cite as

Search behavior of the checker-throated antwren foraging in aerial leaf litter

  • Judy A. Gradwohl
  • Russell Greenberg
Article
Received:
Accepted:

Summary

Checker-throated antwrens (Formicariidae: Myrmotherula fulviventris) live in lowland neotropical forests and forage from dead curled leaves in the understory. Because they search each leaf individually they provide an opportunity to study the use of potential visual cues by an insectivorous bird. Long and highly curled leaves contain the most arthropods and checker-throated antwrens were more successful when foraging at those leaves. Yet, they used leaves at random with respect to these potential cues. Antwrens spent longer searching for arthropods in each highly curled leaf than in less curled leaves. Because of this additional search time, prey capture success per unit foraging time was only slightly greater for highly curled leaves than at the average dead leaf in the aerial leaf litter. Thus, the cues that antwrens could use to locate richer leaves are those features that obscure the prey from avian predators. Unlike other foraging systems, the antwrens appear to have no reliable cues indicating more profitable foraging sites.

Keywords

Leaf Litter Search Time Prey Capture Dead Leaf Avian Predator 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Alcock J (1973) Cues used in searching for food by Red-winged Blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus). Behaviour 46:174–188Google Scholar
  2. Gass LC, Montgomerie RD (1981) Hummingbird foraging behavior: ecological, ethological and psychological approaches. Garland Press, New York London, pp 159–198Google Scholar
  3. Gill, F, Wolf L (1975) Foraging strategies and energetics of East African Sun birds at mistletoe flowers. Am Nat 109:491–510Google Scholar
  4. Gradwohl J, Greenberg R (1980) The formation of antwren flocks on Barro Colorado Island, Panama. Auk 97:385–396Google Scholar
  5. Gradwohl J, Greenberg R (1983) The breeding season of antwrens on Barro Colorado Island, Panama. In: Leigh EG, Rand AS, Windsor D (eds) The ecology of a tropical forest: seasonal rhythms and long-term changes. Smithsonian Inst Press, Washington, DC, pp 345–351Google Scholar
  6. Greenberg R, Gradwohl J (1980) Leaf surface specialization in birds and arthropods in a tropical forest. Oecologia (Berl) 915:879–887Google Scholar
  7. Heinrich B (1975) The energetics of pollination. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 6:139–170Google Scholar
  8. Heinrich B (1979) Foraging strategies of caterpillars: leaf damage and possible predator avoidance strategies. Oecologia (Berl) 42:325–339Google Scholar
  9. Heinrich B (1981) Bumblebee economics. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass, 245 pGoogle Scholar
  10. Heinrich B, Collins S (1983) Caterpillar leaf damage and the game of hide-and-seek in birds. Ecology 64:592–602Google Scholar
  11. Hill WF, Spear NE (1963) Choice between magnitudes of reward in a T-maze. J Comp Physiol Psychol 56:723–726Google Scholar
  12. Houston AI, Krebs JR, Ericksen ST (1979) Optimal prey choice and discrimination time in Great Tit (Parus major L.). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 6:169–175Google Scholar
  13. Jones CE, Buchman SL (1974) Ultra-violet floral patterns as functional orientation cues in Hymenopterous pollination systems. Anim Behav 22:481–485Google Scholar
  14. Krebs JR, Kacelnick A, Taylor P (1978) Test of optimal sampling by the great tit (Parus major). Nature 275:27–31Google Scholar
  15. Ridgely R (1976) A guide to the birds of Panama. Princeton University Press, Princeton New JerseyGoogle Scholar
  16. Robinson S, Holmes R (1982) Foraging behavior of forest birds: the relationship among search tactics, diet, and habitat structure. Ecology 63:1918–1931Google Scholar
  17. Simons S, Alcock J (1971) Learning and foraging persistance in White-crowned Sparrows Zonotrichia leucophrys. Ibis 113:447–483Google Scholar
  18. Smith JNM, Dawkins R (1971) The hunting behavior of individual great tits in relation to spatial variation in food density. Anim Behav 19:695–706Google Scholar
  19. Smith JNM, Sweatman HPA (1974) Food searching behavior of tits in patchy environments. Ecology 55:1216–1232Google Scholar
  20. Sutherland NS, MacIntosh NJ (1971) Mechanisms in animal discrimination learning. Academic Press, New YorkGoogle Scholar
  21. Thien LB, Marks BG (1972) The floral biology of Arethusa bulbosa, Calopogon tuberosa, Pogonia ophioglossiodes (Orchidaceae). Can J Bot 50:2319–2325Google Scholar
  22. Thorpe RW, Briggs DC, Estes JR, Erickson EH (1975) Nectar florescense under ultra-violet radiation. Science 198:476–478Google Scholar
  23. Wiley RH (1971) Cooperative roles in mixed species flocks of antwrens (Formicariidae). Auk 88:881–892Google Scholar
  24. Willis EO (1972) The behavior of Spotted Antbirds. Ornithol Monogr 10:1–162Google Scholar
  25. Zach R, Falls JB (1976) Foraging behavior, learning and exploration by captive ovenbirds (Aves: Parulidae). Can J Zool 54:1880–1893Google Scholar
  26. Zach R, Smith JNM (1981) Optimal foraging in wild birds? In: Kamil AC, Sargent T (eds). Foraging behavior: ecological, ethological and psychological approaches. Garland Press, New York London, pp 95–109Google Scholar
  27. Zug GR, Zug PB (1979) The marine toad Bufo marinus: a natural history resume of native populations. Smithson Contrib Zool 284:1–58Google Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag 1984

Authors and Affiliations

  • Judy A. Gradwohl
    • 1
    • 2
  • Russell Greenberg
    • 1
    • 2
  1. 1.Smithsonian Tropical Research InstituteAPOMiamiUSA
  2. 2.Department of Zoological ResearchNational Zoological ParkWashington, DCUSA

Personalised recommendations