Foraging, Fear and Behavioral Variation in a Traplining Hummingbird

Simple Summary Animals differ in their foraging efficiency and it is not clear what drives this variation. We examined how the foraging efficiency of long-billed hermit hummingbirds changes with regard to three behavioral traits: (a) exploration, (b) risk avoidance and (c) arousal in conditions at two different levels of perceived risk (low and high). We found that foraging efficiency was lower in high-risk conditions, but behavioral traits explained the additional variation in foraging efficiency in a condition-dependent manner. More explorative individuals had higher foraging efficiency in low-risk conditions, but the opposite was the case in high-risk conditions. Regardless of the conditions, foraging efficiency increased with bird arousal and decreased if they were more cautious (higher risk avoidance). Our findings highlight the importance of taking into account additional behavioral dimensions to better understand the foraging strategies of individuals. Traditionally, foraging behavior has been explained as the response to a trade-off between energetic gain from feeding resources and potential costs from concomitant risks. However, an increasing number of studies has shown that this view fails to explain an important fraction of the variation in foraging across a variety of taxa. One potential mechanism that may account for this variation is that various behavioral traits associated with foraging may have different fitness consequences, which may depend on the environmental context. Here, we explored this mechanism by evaluating the foraging efficiency of long-billed hermit hummingbirds (Phaethornis longirostris) with regard to three behavioral traits: (a) exploration (number of feeders used during the foraging visit), (b) risk avoidance (latency to start feeding) and (c) arousal (amount of movements during the foraging visit) in conditions at two different levels of perceived risk (low-control and high-experimental, with a threatening bullet ant model). Foraging efficiency decreased in response to threatening conditions. However, behavioral traits explained additional variation in foraging efficiency in a condition-dependent manner. More exploration was associated with a higher foraging efficiency under control conditions, but this was reversed when exposed to a threat. Regardless of the conditions, arousal was positively associated with foraging efficiency, while risk avoidance was negatively related. Importantly, exploratory behavior and risk avoidance were quite repeatable behaviors, suggesting that they may be related to the intrinsic traits of individuals. Our findings highlight the importance of taking into account additional behavioral dimensions to better understand the foraging strategies of individuals.

Automated summary

In this study, the foraging efficiency of long-billed hermit hummingbirds was examined in relation to their exploration, risk avoidance, and arousal behavioral traits. It was found that foraging efficiency was lower in high-risk conditions, but the effects of behavioral traits varied depending on the environmental conditions. More explorative individuals had higher foraging efficiency in low-risk conditions, while the opposite was true in high-risk conditions. Regardless of the conditions, foraging efficiency increased with bird arousal and decreased with risk avoidance. These findings highlight the importance of considering additional behavioral dimensions to better understand individual foraging strategies.