Choosing Where to Feed: Choice of Field

Abstract

As we have seen in Chapter 1, several factors influence the spatial and temporal distribution of predators around feeding sites. Among birds, variation in the availability of prey, climatic factors, predation risk and social factors have all turned out to be important. The interaction between different factors in socially feeding species may be complex, even in those feeding in single-species flocks. In mixed flocks, the situation may be further complicated by frequency and density-dependent effects of the distribution and behaviour of one species on those of others. As we shall see later, the influence of conspecific and other companions on the behaviour of birds can vary with both flock size and flock-species composition. In this chapter, we examine the factors which determine the distribution and composition of mixed-species charadriiform flocks around our study area and ask why certain feeding sites are occupied more regularly than others.