Kono, Reid, Kamil
Studies of prey detection have typically focused on how search image affects the capture of cryptic items. This study also considers how background vegetation influences cryptic prey detection. Blue jays, Cyanocitta cristata, searched digitized images for two Catocala moths: C. ilia, which is cryptic on oak, and C. relicta, which is cryptic on birch. Some images contained moths while others did not. The ability of blue jays to detect prey during repeated presentations of one prey type within a session was compared with their performance during randomly alternating presentations of both prey types within a session to examine search-image formation under two background conditions (informative and ambiguous)...
October 1998: Animal Behaviour