Abstract
Many animals show behavioural syndromes (i.e. suites of correlated behaviours across multiple situations). These behavioural correlations, however, imply limitations in the behavioural plasticity of individuals when facing the trade-off between predation risk and starvation risk. Some models suggest that proactive animals prioritize the reduction of starvation risk, while reactive animals do the opposite. Therefore, fast explorers that are also bold (i.e. proactive) are assumed to pay a predation cost associated with their behavioural trait. However, it has recently been suggested that proactive individuals may be able to compensate for their higher risk of predation by adopting some antipredator behaviours. In this study we tested these two alternative hypotheses with wild wintering Eurasian siskins, Carduelis spinus, foraging at artificial feeders. Male siskins have a melanin-based black bib that has been found to be correlated with exploratory behaviour, aggressiveness and dominance, and therefore is a signal of proactivity. We found that male siskins with large black bibs uttered more distress calls upon capture and displayed a vigilance strategy that improved predator detection. Moreover, this vigilance strategy did not reduce food intake rate. These results show that proactive individuals are not reckless, but instead compensate for their personality trait with stronger antipredator behaviours, and thus, do not necessarily have to pay a predation cost. Our results support the view of a positive relationship between eumelanism, proactive personality and the display of antipredator behaviours.
Highlights
Sih, Bell, and Johnson (2004, p. 372) described a behavioural syndrome as ‘a suite of correlated behaviors reflecting between individual consistency in behavior across multiple situations’
In line with the hypotheses formulated by Jones and Godin (2010), in the present study we tested whether proactive Eurasian siskins, Carduelis spinus, show a behavioural carryover leading to a reduction in antipredator behaviours (Sih et al, 2004) while keeping high food intake rates (Biro & Stamps, 2008; handicap hypothesis), or whether they evolved antipredator behaviours to compensate for the high risk of predation associated with their personality trait
To test whether proactive or reactive siskins show more antipredator behaviours, we focused on vigilance behaviour, which significantly reduces the probability of capture (Lima & Dill, 1990), and on distress calls, which significantly increase the probability of escape from predators once captured (Conover, 1994; Laiolo, Tella, Carrete, Serrano & López, 2004)
Summary
Sih, Bell, and Johnson (2004, p. 372) described a behavioural syndrome as ‘a suite of correlated behaviors reflecting between individual consistency in behavior across multiple situations’. 626) recently suggested that proactive individuals might have evolved antipredator behaviours to compensate for the higher risk of predation associated with their behavioural trait ('compensation hypothesis') In line with this hypothesis, Godin and Dugatkin (1996) found that bold and conspicuous Trinidadian guppies, Poecilia reticulata, maintained greater escape distances from cichlid fish predators, while Carter, Marshall, Heinsohn, and Cowlishaw (2012) found no correlation between responses to a novel object and responses to a threat in wild chacma baboons, Papio ursinus. In the present study we tested the above predictions and we analysed food intake rates and aggression rates as well as the proportion of males of each bib size category on the two feeders as relevant variables to understand and interpret the results better
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