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Family-related differences in social foraging tactic use in the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata)

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Abstract

When animals forage in groups, they can search for food themselves (producer tactic), or they can search for opportunities to exploit the food discoveries of others (scrounger tactic). Both theoretical and empirical work have shown that group-level use of these alternative tactics is influenced by environmental conditions including group size and food distribution, and individual tactic use can be influenced by several measures of individual state, including body condition. Because body condition has been shown to be heritable for various species, social foraging tactics may also be heritable. We looked for evidence of heritability in social foraging tactic use in the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) by testing whether: (1) natural variation in body condition correlates with tactic use, (2) there are family-related differences in body condition, and (3) there are family-related differences in observed tactic use. Tactic use in the zebra finch was significantly related to body condition; individuals with lower body condition scores had a significantly higher use of the scrounger tactic as predicted from variance-sensitive producer–scrounger models. Body-condition scores differed significantly between families, suggesting that this aspect of individual state may have a heritable component. Finally, we recorded significant family-related differences in the use of producer and scrounger alternatives. These results are consistent with heritability in observed tactic use resulting from an inheritance of individual state, in this case body condition, which itself influences tactic use. Understanding how and why individuals differ in their use of alternative tactics is fundamental as it may provide important insights into inter-individual variation in fitness.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Neeltje Boogert for help with the breeding of the zebra finches, Jan Wijmenga for constructing the foraging grids and for comments on an earlier version of the MS, and Denis Réale and members of the Giraldeau lab for helpful discussions. KJM was supported by an Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) graduate scholarship, an NSERC Discovery grant to L.-A.G, and a Bourse d'Excellence de l'UQAM.

Statement of integrity of research and reporting

These experiments conform to guidelines of the Canadian Council for Animal Care and were approved by the UQAM University Animal Care Committee (0108-601-0109). The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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  1. Kimberley J. Mathot

    Present address: Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Eberhard-Gwinner-Straße, Haus Nr. 5, 82319, Seewiesen, Germany

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Département des Sciences Biologiques, Université du Québec à Montréal, Case postale 8888, Succursale Centre-Ville, Montréal, QC, H3C 3P8, Canada

    Kimberley J. Mathot & Luc-Alain Giraldeau

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  1. Kimberley J. Mathot
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  2. Luc-Alain Giraldeau
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Correspondence to Kimberley J. Mathot.

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Communicated by R. Gibson.

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Mathot, K.J., Giraldeau, LA. Family-related differences in social foraging tactic use in the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 64, 1805–1811 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-010-0992-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-010-0992-2

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