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Behavioral Ecology Vol. 12 No. 2: 192-199
© 2001 International Society for Behavioral Ecology

Limited attention: the constraint underlying search image

Reuven Dukas and Alan C. Kamil

Nebraska Behavioral Biology Group, School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68588-0118, USA

Address correspondence to R. Dukas, Behavioral Ecology Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby B.C. V5A 1S6, Canada. E-mail: rdukas{at}sfu.ca .

Recent models of predator search behavior integrate proximate neurobiological constraints with ultimate economic considerations. These models are based on two assumptions, which we have critically examined in experiments with blue jays searching for artificial prey images presented on a computer monitor. We found, first, that when jays had to switch between searching for two distinct prey types, they showed no reduction in detection rates compared to no-switching to no-switching conditions, and second, that when jays divided attention between searching for two prey types at the same time, they had lower detection rates than when they focused attention on one prey type at a time. Our results suggest that limited attention strongly affects predator search patterns and diet choice, including the ubiquitous tendency to form search images.

Key words: attention, blue jay, constraint, foraging, predator, prey, search image, switching.


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