caa a22 4500 465782086 CHVBK 20180323111958.0 cr unu---uuuuu 170327e19900301xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/BF00172083 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/BF00172083 Risk-aversion, relative abundance of resources and foraging preference [Elektronische Daten] [Elaina Tuttle, Lori Wulfson, Thomas Caraco] Summary: Foraging theory depicts dietary choice as a function of prey quality and absolute abundance. Ecological processes, however, can depend on the way foragers respond to the relative abundances of available prey types; several models for frequency-dependent foraging adequately describe these responses. Our laboratory experiments with white-throated sparrows investigated preferential choice of two food rewards as we manipulated both reward quality and relative abundance. In any single experiment the two rewards provided the same mean food quantity, but the variances differed. Average energy budgets predicted risk-aversion, so that foraging preference should decrease as reward variance increases. We presented each two-reward pairing at availability ratios of 1:2, 1:1, and 2:1 for three consecutive days. By the third day risk-aversion exceeded preference for reward variance significantly. When relative abundances of the low and high variance rewards were not equal, the birds tended to prefer the rare over the common reward. This response began before the birds had thoroughly sampled the reward distributions. Preference for rarity apparently constrained the birds' economic response to reward variance levels. Springer-Verlag, 1990 Tuttle Elaina Behavioral Ecology Group, Biological Sciences, State University of New York, 12222, Albany, NY, USA aut Wulfson Lori Behavioral Ecology Group, Biological Sciences, State University of New York, 12222, Albany, NY, USA aut Caraco Thomas Behavioral Ecology Group, Biological Sciences, State University of New York, 12222, Albany, NY, USA aut Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Springer-Verlag 26/3(1990-03-01), 165-171 0340-5443 26:3<165 1990 26 265 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00172083 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00172083 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Tuttle Elaina Behavioral Ecology Group, Biological Sciences, State University of New York, 12222, Albany, NY, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Wulfson Lori Behavioral Ecology Group, Biological Sciences, State University of New York, 12222, Albany, NY, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Caraco Thomas Behavioral Ecology Group, Biological Sciences, State University of New York, 12222, Albany, NY, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Springer-Verlag 26/3(1990-03-01), 165-171 0340-5443 26:3<165 1990 26 265 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer