Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by McNamara, J. M.
Right arrow Articles by Krebs, J. R.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by McNamara, J. M.
Right arrow Articles by Krebs, J. R.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© 1990 International Society for Behavioral Ecology

research-article

Why hoard? The economics of food storing in tits, Parus spp.

John M. McNamara, Almsdmir I. Houston and John R. Krebs

School of Mathematics, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TW, UK King's College Research Centre, King's College, Cambridge CB2 1ST, UK and NERC Unit of Behavioural Ecology, Department of Zoology, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology, Department of Zoology, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK

Address reprint requests to J. M. McNamara

ABSTRACT

We present two models of food storage by small birds such as tits (Parus spp): a simple, energy-maximizing model and a more complex dynamic programming model. The results show that hoarding is advantageous when (1) the metabolic costs of carrying reserves are high, (2) food supply is variable, (3) the mean rate of intake is low, and (4) overnight expenditure of energy is high. The dynamic programming model predicts daily routines of storing and retrieval as well as changes in body mass. The predicted routine (storage in the early part of the day, retrieval near dusk) has been observed in some species that store food. We predict differences in the pattern of change of body mass through the day between storers and nonstorers, but data to test this prediction are not yet available.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Behav EcolHome page
H. Lange and O. Leimar
Social stability and daily body mass gain in great tits
Behav. Ecol., July 1, 2004; 15(4): 549 - 554.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Behav EcolHome page
S. B. Vander Wall and S. H. Jenkins
Reciprocal pilferage and the evolution of food-hoarding behavior
Behav. Ecol., September 1, 2003; 14(5): 656 - 667.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Behav EcolHome page
I. M. Hamilton and L. M. Dill
The use of territorial gardening versus kleptoparasitism by a subtropical reef fish (Kyphosus cornelii) is influenced by territory defendability
Behav. Ecol., July 1, 2003; 14(4): 561 - 568.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Behav EcolHome page
L. Rychlik and E. Jancewicz
Prey size, prey nutrition, and food handling by shrews of different body sizes
Behav. Ecol., March 1, 2002; 13(2): 216 - 223.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Behav EcolHome page
V. V. Pravosudov and J. R. Lucas
A dynamic model of short-term energy management in small food-caching and non-caching birds
Behav. Ecol., March 1, 2001; 12(2): 207 - 218.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Behav EcolHome page
J. R. Lucas, V. V. Pravosudov, and D. L. Zielinski
A reevaluation of the logic of pilferage effects, predation risk, and environmental variability on avian energy regulation: the critical role of time budgets
Behav. Ecol., March 1, 2001; 12(2): 246 - 260.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Behav EcolHome page
A. Brodin
Why do hoarding birds gain fat in winter in the wrong way? Suggestions from a dynamic model
Behav. Ecol., January 1, 2000; 11(1): 27 - 39.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.