Abstract
Animals can insure themselves against the risk of starvation associated with unpredictable food availability by storing energy reserves or gathering information about alternative food sources. The former strategy carries costs in terms of mass-dependent predation risk, while the latter trades off against foraging for food; both trade-offs may be influenced by an individual's developmental history. Here, we consider a possible role of early developmental experience in inducing different mass regulation and foraging strategies in European starlings. We measured the body mass, body condition, foraging effort, food consumption and contrafreeloading (foraging for food hidden in sand when equivalent food is freely available) of adult birds (≥10 months old) that had previously undergone a subtle early life manipulation of food competition (cross-fostering into the highest or lowest ranks in the brood size hierarchy when 2–12 days of age). We found that developmentally disadvantaged birds were fatter in adulthood and differed in foraging behaviour compared with their advantaged siblings. Disadvantaged birds were hyperphagic compared with advantaged birds, but only following a period of food deprivation, and also spent more time contrafreeloading. Advantaged birds experienced a trade-off between foraging success and time spent contrafreeloading, whereas disadvantaged birds faced no such trade-off, owing to their greater foraging efficiency. Thus, developmentally disadvantaged birds appeared to retain a phenotypic memory of increased nestling food competition, employing both energy storage and information-gathering insurance strategies to a greater extent than their advantaged siblings. Our results suggest that subtle early life disadvantage in the form of psychosocial stress and/or food insecurity can leave a lasting legacy on foraging behaviour and mass regulation even in the absence of food insufficiency during development or adulthood.
Highlights
Andrews C, Viviani J, Egan E, Bedford T, Brilot B, Nettle D, Bateson M
Evidence from rodent and avian models suggests that adult foraging decisions may be influenced by developmental history
In broiler chickens a reduction in CFL compared with layer chickens or the ancestral red junglefowl, Gallus gallus, has been interpreted as a selected energy-saving response to the demands of rapid growth (Lindqvist & Jensen, 2008; Lindqvist et al, 2002; Lindqvist, Zimmerman, & Jensen, 2006; Schütz & Jensen, 2001)
Summary
Andrews C, Viviani J, Egan E, Bedford T, Brilot B, Nettle D, Bateson M. In many species including humans, animals sometimes choose to forage in patches in which effort is required to exploit the food resource despite the existence of alternative patches containing identical food available for minimum effort (Coulton, Waran, & Young, 1997; Inglis, Forkman, & Lazarus, 1997; Larson & Tarte, 2013; Lindqvist & Jensen, 2008; Neuringer, 1969; Ogura, 2011; Robertson & Anderson, 1975; Vasconcellos, Harumi, & Ades, 2012). No study has yet experimentally investigated how developmental history may influence the amount of CFL individuals choose to perform
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
