Abstract
Prey preparation can be a conspicuous and variable component of handling time. The swallwoing threshold model suggests that foragers prepare prey that are too large to swallow whole, and predicts that preparation is a step function of prey size. The gut encounter model suggests that preparation is a compromise between fitting more prey in the gut and maintaining high encounter rates. It predicts increasing preparation with increasing encounter rates and decreasing gut capacity. Grasshopper sparrows, Ammodramus savanarrum, are able to consume prey above the swallowing threshold through prey preparation. However, preparation is a positive, negatively accelerated exponential function of prey width. Preparation increases with encounter rate and decreased gut capacity, but in a continuous fashion not predicted by the gut encounter model. Factors contributing to the positive relation between prey size and handling time are discussed.
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