1969/07/01 by Richard F. Johnston · 2 citations
Environmental Science · #Avian ecology and behavior #Foraging #Animal behavior #Zoology #Geography #Ecology #Fishery #Biology
paper · pdf · doi:10.2307/4083421
openalex publication_date 1969/07/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/04/13
Aggressive foraging behavior in House Sparrows.--Analysis of aggressive foraging behavior in House Sparrows (Passer domesticus) recording at a feeding station in Lawrence, Douglas County, Kansas, in the spring of 1964 showed that relatively high levels of aggressive behavior occurred in both sexes when i.ndividuals were under miximal stimuli to procure food, but that at any time females were more likely to be aggressive at the feeder than males.Over a period of 66 days from 5 March to 10 May 1964 (but excluding 4-11 April) Mrs. Dorothy S. Anderson made a series of 36 sets of observations of aggressive foraging.This consisted of chases, directed pecking, gaping, directed lunging, and wing raising.She recorded each such instance as a unitary act of aggressio.n,with the sex of the aggressor and of the i.ndividual attacked.Length of observation periods varied from 5 1o 50 minutes (-• = 19.0), and each ended when the sparrows left the feeder, often as a result of interruption by Blue Jays (Cyanocltta cristata), Common Grackles (Quiscalus quiscula), or waxwings (Bombycilla), essentially random events relative 1o our watching sparrows and useful in determining the end of an observation period.