Adjusting risk-taking to the annual cycle of long-distance migratory birds

Mikula, Peter; Dı́az, Mario; Albrecht, Tomáš; Jokimäki, Jukka; Kaisanlahti-Jokimäki, Marja Liisa; Kroitero, Gal; Møller, Anders Pape; Tryjanowski, Piotr; Yosef, Reuven; Hromada, Martin

doi:10.1038/s41598-018-32252-1

Cited by 34 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 70 publications

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“…Remaining at a given place to avoid the costs of fleeing on the other hand holds the cost of an increasing predation risk. According to Ydenberg and Dill (1986) prey should flee when the cost of fleeing equals the cost of remaining, whereby the cost and benefits of escaping can vary temporally and spatially (Kotler, Brown, & Bouskila, 2004;Lima & Bednekoff, 1999;Mikula et al, 2018;Winnie & Creel, 2007). In animals, there is a great variety of anti-predatory escape strategies (Lima & Dill, 1990;Stankowich & Blumstein, 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flight initiation distance and escape behavior in the black redstart (Phoenicurus ochruros)

2019

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There are many anti‐predatory escape strategies in animals. A well‐established method to assess escape behavior is the flight initiation distance (FID), which is the distance between prey and predator at which an animal flees. Previous studies in various species throughout the animal kingdom have shown that group size, urbanization, and distance to refuge and body mass affect FID. In most species, FID increases if body mass, group size or distance to refuge decreases. However, how age and sexual dimorphism affect FID is rather unknown. Here, we assess the escape behavior and FID of the black redstart (Phoenicurus ochruros), a small turdid passerine. When approached by a human, males initiated flights later, that is allowing a closer approach than females. Males of this species are more conspicuous, and therefore, may exhibit aposematism to deter potential predators or are less fearful than females. Additionally, juveniles fled at shorter distances and fled to lower heights than adults. Lastly, concerning escape strategy, black redstarts, unless other passerine birds, fled less often into cover, but rather onto open or elevated spots. Black redstarts are especially prone to predation by ambushing predators that might hide in cover. Hence, this species most likely has a higher chance of escaping by fleeing to an open spot rather than to a potentially risky cover.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flight initiation distance and escape behavior in the black redstart (Phoenicurus ochruros)

2019

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“…FID data were collected using a standard procedure (Blumstein 2006) adopted in our previous studies (Díaz et al 2013, Mikula et al 2018. In brief, when a target bird (either a singleton or a randomly selected bird in a single species flock) was spotted by a researcher (usually using binoculars), the researcher moved at a normal walking speed directly towards the target bird, while recording the number of~1 m paces.…”

Section: Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Starting distance. Starting distance has often been found to be strongly positively correlated with FID (Blumstein 2006, Mikula et al 2018. Hence, we measured the starting distance, defined as the distance between the researcher's position and the bird when first spotted.…”

Section: Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The emergence of tolerance of human disturbance in Neotropical birds

et al. 2019

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Animals living close to human settlements more often experience disturbance, but also reduced predation risk. Because an escape response is costly, behavioural adjustments of animals in terms of increased tolerance of humans occurs and is often reported in the literature. However, most such studies have been conducted in and around long-existing cities in Europe and North America, on well-established animal populations. Here, we investigate the degree of tolerance of human disturbance across 132 bird species occurring in disturbed (small farms) and undisturbed (intact wetlands and grasslands) areas in Pantanal, Mato Grosso (Brazil), a region with only a very recent history of human-induced disturbance. We found a clear across-species trend toward higher tolerance of human disturbance in birds near farms when compared with birds in wild areas. Such a flexible and perhaps also rapid emergence of tolerance when facing small-scale and very recent human disturbance presumably involves learning and might be attributed to behavioural plasticity. The ability of birds to modify their degree of tolerance of human disturbance may play a key role in the facilitation of wildlife–human coexistence.

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“…Some variables, however, may lead to an increase or decrease in FID depending on environmental or social conditions. For example, prey might escape earlier when in larger groups due to collective detection of predators (Tätte et al 2018, Morelli et al 2019, or escape may be delayed due to dilution of predation risk or collective defence (Stankowich & Blumstein 2005, Mikula et al 2018.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%