title: Behavioural Type Affects Space Use in a Wild Population of Crows (Corvus corone).
abstract: While personality-dependent dispersal is well studied, local space use has received surprisingly little attention in this context, despite the multiple consequences on survival and fitness. Regarding the coping style of individuals, recent studies on personality-dependent space use within a habitat indicate that 'proactive' individuals are wider ranging than 'reactive' ones. However, such studies are still scarce and cover limited taxonomic diversity, and thus, more research is needed to explore whether this pattern generalises across species. We examined the link between coping style and space use in a population of crows (Corvus corone) freely inhabiting the urban zoo of Vienna, Austria. We used a binary docility rating (struggle during handling vs. no struggle) and a tonic immobility test to quantify individual coping style. Individual space use was quantified as the number of different sites at which each crow was observed, and we controlled for different number of sightings per individual by creating a space use index. Only the binary docility rating showed repeatability over time, and significantly predicted space use. In contrast to previous studies, we found that reactive crows (no struggle during handling) showed wider ranging space use within the study site than proactive individuals (who struggled during handling). The discrepancy from previous results suggests that the relationship between behavioural type and space use may vary between species, potentially reflecting differences in socioecology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Biology University of Vienna Vienna Austria.
authors.forename: Sarah A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Deventer
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Biology University of Vienna Vienna Austria.
authors.forename: Florian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Uhl
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Biology University of Vienna Vienna Austria.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bugnyar
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Biology University of Vienna Vienna Austria; Department of Psychology University of Cambridge Cambridge UK.
authors.forename: Rachael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Biology University of Vienna Vienna Austria.
authors.forename: W Tecumseh
authors.initials: WT
authors.lastname: Fitch
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Biology University of Vienna Vienna Austria; Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History Jena Germany.
authors.forename: Martina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schiestl
authors.affiliation: Department of Integrative Zoology University of Vienna Vienna Austria.
authors.forename: Max
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ringler
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Biology University of Vienna Vienna Austria; Messerli Research Institute University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna Medical University of Vienna University of Vienna Vienna Austria.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schwab
keywords: antipredator; coping style; docility; personality; space use; tonic immobility