Rich Pickings Near Large Communal Roosts Favor ‘Gang’ Foraging by Juvenile Common Ravens, Corvus corax
Sasha R. X. Dall, Jonathan Wright · 2009
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Description
Young ravens forage in gangs near big communal roosts, where rich food is easier to find, report Sasha Dall and Jonathan Wright in PLOS ONE in 2009. Ravens feed mainly on carcasses of large animals, rich food that does not last long. Those carcasses are usually defended by pairs of territorial adults.
Young, non-breeding ravens feed socially and gather in communal winter roosts. The roosts seem to work as information centers, where birds learn where food is. Dall and Wright show the pickings near large roosts are rich enough to favor this gang foraging. The study ties a striking social habit to plain economics: share news of carcasses, and everyone eats better than a lone young bird could.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Sasha R. X. Dall, Jonathan Wright |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2009 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 37 KB |
| LICENSE | Creative Commons Attribution License |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | PLOS ONE |
Source: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0004530