Scaling patterns in the foraging behaviour of sympatric plovers: effects of body size and diet

The foraging behaviour of five plover species was studied at Mida Creek. Ke nya to assess how foraging behaviour is influenced by bird body size and:or diet. All five plovers had functionally identical instantaneous foraging b ehaviour, but the pre dieted allometric sealing of components of this: beha viour with body size was not conclusively demonstrated. Variation in almost all foraging parameters could be better explained by interspecific differe nces in diet, specifically the relative proportions of prey providing a str ong visual cue (e.g. surface-active crabs) versus a weak one (e.g. polychae tes and very small prey). One species, the Greater Sandplover Charadrius le schenaultii, was positioned anomalously in several scaling relationships. I f this species was excluded from analyses. six of eight foraging parameters were significantly correlated with body mass. it is not possible to extrap olate the fine details of foraging behaviour from one locality to another a nd this study strongly suggests that predictions about foraging behaviour b ased on morphological allometry have limited robustness. even for sympatric species with stereotyped foraging tactics.