Experimental tests of the information-center hypothesis with black vultures (Coragypsatratus) and turkey vultures (Cathartesaura) |
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Authors: | Neil J Buckley |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Zoology and Oklahoma Biological Survey, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019, USA, US |
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Abstract: | In field tests of the information-center hypothesis (ICH) in south Texas with black vultures (Coragyps atratus) and turkey vultures (Cathartes aura), large carcasses were provided and kept under continuous observation. The use vultures made of these bait sites and their
patterns of arrival were recorded to evaluate predictions derived from the ICH. Turkey vultures discovered most bait sites
(30 of 31) first, but frequently were displaced from the food by later-arriving black vultures. This competitive exclusion
by black vultures limited subsequent feeding opportunities for turkey vultures sufficiently that few (27%) returned on subsequent
days to bait sites they had previously visited. I found no evidence that those turkey vultures that did return to bait sites
acted as leaders for groups of naive birds and led them to bait sites – knowledgeable and naive turkey vultures did not arrive
at bait sites together, and groups arriving at bait sites were not larger on subsequent days than on the first days carcasses
were available. In contrast, a significantly larger percentage (47%) of knowledgeable black vultures returned to bait sites
they had visited on previous days, and the first groups of black vultures arriving at bait sites on subsequent days were significantly
larger than the equivalent groups on first days. Nine flocks of black vultures that arrived on subsequent days at bait sites
before sunrise (which suggests the birds had commuted directly from a roost) contained knowledgeable birds, and two of these
flocks contained both knowledgeable and naive individuals. Overall, 10 of 54 naive tagged black vultures (18.5%) arrived at
bait sites under circumstances that suggested they had followed conspecifics to the food from a roost. However, most black
vultures apparently found carcasses through independent search or by using local enhancement. Therefore, I conclude that while
following from roosts to food sites is a strategy used by black vultures, at this study site it is one they use relatively
infrequently.
Received: 20 February 1997 / Accepted after revision: 28 June 1997 |
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Keywords: | Information-center hypothesis Cathartes aura Coragyps atratus Communal roosting Local enhancement |
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