Vigilance in pre-nesting male geese: mate guarding or predator detection?
Several studies have concluded that vigilance decreases with group size. Two main hypotheses for vigilance in males have been proposed: 1) mate guarding (including protection of paternity) and 2) predator detection. Geese often live in large groups and are easy to observe. They are thus prime candid...
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Language: | Norwegian English |
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BirdLife Norway
2004
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Online Access: | https://boap.uib.no/index.php/ornis/article/view/203 https://doi.org/10.15845/on.v27i0.203 |
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ftboapojs:oai:boap.uib.no:article/203 2023-05-15T13:29:58+02:00 Vigilance in pre-nesting male geese: mate guarding or predator detection? Frafjord, Karl 2004-01-01 application/pdf https://boap.uib.no/index.php/ornis/article/view/203 https://doi.org/10.15845/on.v27i0.203 nor eng nor eng BirdLife Norway https://boap.uib.no/index.php/ornis/article/view/203/262 https://boap.uib.no/index.php/ornis/article/view/203/263 https://boap.uib.no/index.php/ornis/article/view/203 doi:10.15845/on.v27i0.203 Ornis Norvegica; Årg 27 (2004); 48-58 info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 2004 ftboapojs https://doi.org/10.15845/on.v27i0.203 2021-11-03T23:34:19Z Several studies have concluded that vigilance decreases with group size. Two main hypotheses for vigilance in males have been proposed: 1) mate guarding (including protection of paternity) and 2) predator detection. Geese often live in large groups and are easy to observe. They are thus prime candidates for studies of male vigilance and agonistic behaviour. In this study, two species of pre-nesting geese were studied. Pink-footed Geese Anser brachyrhynchus were studied on their breeding grounds on Svalbard and in a spring staging area on the northwest coast of Norway, and Bean Geese A. fabalis were studied in a spring staging area in the north-eastern corner of Norway. Observations were made of pairs of geese during foraging bouts, recording foraging, vigilance and agonistic behaviour. Group size, distance between the male and female of a pair, and position in the group (one site only) were also recorded. Few significant relationships were found, the most striking one was that males were more vigilant at the edge of the group than in the centre. In some cases, a non-linear relation was found, i.e. between group size and vigilance in one area. Overall, hypothesis 2) was more strongly supported than hypothesis 1), but most likely the males were making the best of these conflicting interests. The near total absence of a group-size effect was not consistent with the predictions or with earlier findings, indicating that the relations may be more complex than previously suggested. Article in Journal/Newspaper Anser brachyrhynchus Svalbard Bergen Open Access Publishing (University of Bergen Library) Norway Svalbard Ornis Norvegica 27 0 48 |
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Open Polar |
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Bergen Open Access Publishing (University of Bergen Library) |
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ftboapojs |
language |
Norwegian English |
description |
Several studies have concluded that vigilance decreases with group size. Two main hypotheses for vigilance in males have been proposed: 1) mate guarding (including protection of paternity) and 2) predator detection. Geese often live in large groups and are easy to observe. They are thus prime candidates for studies of male vigilance and agonistic behaviour. In this study, two species of pre-nesting geese were studied. Pink-footed Geese Anser brachyrhynchus were studied on their breeding grounds on Svalbard and in a spring staging area on the northwest coast of Norway, and Bean Geese A. fabalis were studied in a spring staging area in the north-eastern corner of Norway. Observations were made of pairs of geese during foraging bouts, recording foraging, vigilance and agonistic behaviour. Group size, distance between the male and female of a pair, and position in the group (one site only) were also recorded. Few significant relationships were found, the most striking one was that males were more vigilant at the edge of the group than in the centre. In some cases, a non-linear relation was found, i.e. between group size and vigilance in one area. Overall, hypothesis 2) was more strongly supported than hypothesis 1), but most likely the males were making the best of these conflicting interests. The near total absence of a group-size effect was not consistent with the predictions or with earlier findings, indicating that the relations may be more complex than previously suggested. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Frafjord, Karl |
spellingShingle |
Frafjord, Karl Vigilance in pre-nesting male geese: mate guarding or predator detection? |
author_facet |
Frafjord, Karl |
author_sort |
Frafjord, Karl |
title |
Vigilance in pre-nesting male geese: mate guarding or predator detection? |
title_short |
Vigilance in pre-nesting male geese: mate guarding or predator detection? |
title_full |
Vigilance in pre-nesting male geese: mate guarding or predator detection? |
title_fullStr |
Vigilance in pre-nesting male geese: mate guarding or predator detection? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Vigilance in pre-nesting male geese: mate guarding or predator detection? |
title_sort |
vigilance in pre-nesting male geese: mate guarding or predator detection? |
publisher |
BirdLife Norway |
publishDate |
2004 |
url |
https://boap.uib.no/index.php/ornis/article/view/203 https://doi.org/10.15845/on.v27i0.203 |
geographic |
Norway Svalbard |
geographic_facet |
Norway Svalbard |
genre |
Anser brachyrhynchus Svalbard |
genre_facet |
Anser brachyrhynchus Svalbard |
op_source |
Ornis Norvegica; Årg 27 (2004); 48-58 |
op_relation |
https://boap.uib.no/index.php/ornis/article/view/203/262 https://boap.uib.no/index.php/ornis/article/view/203/263 https://boap.uib.no/index.php/ornis/article/view/203 doi:10.15845/on.v27i0.203 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.15845/on.v27i0.203 |
container_title |
Ornis Norvegica |
container_volume |
27 |
container_issue |
0 |
container_start_page |
48 |
_version_ |
1766004521208643584 |