Flexible expression of a food-processing behaviour: Determinants of dunking rates in wild Carib grackles of Barbados

Abstract

Dunking, the softening of dry food in water to speed up consumption time, is normally a very rare behaviour in wild Carib grackles (Quiscalus lugubris) of Barbados. Its frequency can be experimentally increased when large numbers of dry items are repeatedly placed near a standing source of water in conditions that minimize intraspecific competition and risk of theft. To reconcile the normally low frequency of the behaviour in the wild with the high rates obtained in previous experiments, we tested three conditions where dunking varied between 0 and 70%. Dunking was very rare when it had been made unnecessary by pre-soaking the food, water was far from the dry items offered and only one food item was given, focusing all competitive interactions and theft attempts on a single individual. In contrast, dunking rate was high when food was not pre-soaked, water was close to dry food and more than one item (and hence target for competition and theft) was given. These experiments confirm that dunking rates, like other proto-tool-like food-processing techniques, depend on the costs and benefits of the situation where they are used.