Article Abstract:
The foraging decisions of animals are known to be affected by environmental variance and can be explained by the risk-sensitive foraging theory. A study of 12 wild-caught European starlings is designed to examine their foraging options and to discover whether unpredictability is a component. Comparison of the starlings' preferences for variable and fixed food sources reveals that risk-sensitive foraging does not demonstrate their preferences which may be explained by the algorithm they use to apply value to average expected award.
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Article Abstract:
Efforts to incorporate psychological restraints in models of foraging behaviour vary in their assumptions regarding the accuracy of estimation of environmental parameters. The estimation error is modelled by psychologists as enhancing linearity with the magnitude of stimulus as in Weber's law whereas behavioural ecologists either overlook error or think it to be free of stimulus magnitude. Research on the estimation of time intervals have proved Weber's law but there is little data on the precision of quantity of food.
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Article Abstract:
Studies have used labels like 'work ethics', 'sunk costs' and 'state-dependent preferences' for apparent anomalies in starlings' choices with reference to prefed or hungry. Options prefed offered a delay until reward of 10 s in all treatments, while option hungry delivered delays of 10, 12.5, 15 and 17.5 s in four treatments.
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