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Full-Text Articles in Cognition and Perception
Context-Dependent Seed Dispersal By A Scatter-Hoarding Corvid, Mario B. Pesendorfer, T. Scott Sillett, Scott A. Morrison, Alan C. Kamil
Context-Dependent Seed Dispersal By A Scatter-Hoarding Corvid, Mario B. Pesendorfer, T. Scott Sillett, Scott A. Morrison, Alan C. Kamil
Avian Cognition Papers
1. Corvids (crows, jays, magpies and nutcrackers) are important dispersers of large-seeded plants. Studies on captive or supplemented birds suggest that they flexibly adjust their scatter-hoarding behavior to the context of social dynamics and relative seed availability. Because many corvid-dispersed trees show high annual variation in seed production, context-dependent foraging can have strong effects on natural corvid scatter-hoarding behavior.
2. We investigated how seed availability and social dynamics affected scatter-hoarding in the island scrub jays (Aphelocoma insularis). We quantified rates of scatter-hoarding behavior and territorial defense of 26 colormarked birds over a three-year period with variable acorn crops. …