Journal article
Specializations of birds that attend army ant raids: An ecological approach to cognitive and behavioral studies
Behavioural processes, v 91(3)
Nov 2012
PMID: 23036666
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
► Neo- and Afro-Tropical forest birds from several families collect food at army ant swarm raids. ► Army ant exploitation is similar to other complex avian foraging tasks and favors avian specializations that promote finding and tracking army ant colonies. ► Ecological and social factors can affect the fitness costs and benefits of army ant exploitation. ► These ecological factors vary geographically and with historical patterns of bird distribution. ► We predict the specializations a bird population exhibits will depend on local ecology and phylogenetic history.
Tropical birds forage at army ant raids on several continents. Obligate foraging at army ant raids evolved several times in the Neotropical true antbird family (Thamnophilidae), and recent evidence suggests a diversity of bird species from other families specialize to varying degrees on army ant exploitation. Army ant raids offer access to high prey densities, but the ant colonies are mobile and widely spaced. Successful army ant exploitation requires solving a complex foraging problem because army ant raids are unpredictable in space and time. Birds can counteract the challenges posed by the ants by using strategies that raise their chances of detecting army ant raids, and birds can use additional strategies to track army ant colonies they have located. Some features of army ant biology, such as their conspicuous swarms and columns, above-ground activity, and regular cycles of behavior, provide opportunities for birds to increase their effectiveness at exploiting raids. Changes in sensory, cognitive and behavioral systems may all contribute to specialized army ant exploitation in a bird population. The combination of specializations that are employed may vary independently among bird species and populations. The degree of army ant exploitation by birds varies geographically with latitude and elevation, and with historical patterns such as centers of distribution of obligate thamnophilid antbirds. We predict the set of specializations a given bird population exhibits will depend on local ecology, as well as phylogenetic history. Comparative approaches that focus on these patterns may indicate ecological and evolutionary factors that have shaped the costs and benefits of this foraging strategy. The development of army ant exploitation in individual birds is poorly understood, and individual expression of these specializations may depend on a combination of genetic adaptation with cognitive plasticity, possibly including social and experiential learning. Future studies that measure developmental changes and quantify individual differences in army ant exploitation are needed to establish the mechanisms underlying this behavior.
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Details
- Title
- Specializations of birds that attend army ant raids: An ecological approach to cognitive and behavioral studies
- Creators
- Sean O’Donnell - Department of Biodiversity, Earth and Environmental Science, Drexel University, 3245 Chestnut Street, Building 58-321, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USACorina J Logan - Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EB, United KingdomNicola S Clayton - Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EB, United Kingdom
- Publication Details
- Behavioural processes, v 91(3)
- Publisher
- Elsevier
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Biodiversity, Earth, and Environmental Science (BEES)
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000311660200008
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-84868198087
- Other Identifier
- 991014877851504721
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- International collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Behavioral Sciences
- Psychology, Biological
- Zoology