title: Understanding how mammalian scavengers use information from avian scavengers: cue from above.
abstract: Interspecific social information transfer can play a key role in many aspects of animal ecology from foraging to habitat selection to predator avoidance. Within scavenging communities, avian scavengers often act as producers and mammalian scavengers act as scroungers, but we predict that species-specific cueing will allow for mammalian scavengers to utilize particular avian scavenger species using preferred food sources similar to their own preferences. We use empirical and theoretic approaches to assess interactions between mammalian and avian scavengers in one of the most diverse scavenging guilds in Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya. Using a spatially explicit model and data from experimental carcasses, we found evidence that mammals benefit from local enhancement provided by vultures and that mammalian-avian following patterns are consistent with the idea that species-specific cueing is occurring. Results suggest that ongoing population declines in avian scavengers may have significant impacts on mammalian scavengers and potentially create trophic cascades.
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Earth and Environmental Sciences, University College Cork, Cooperage Building, Distillery Fields, North Mall, Cork, Ireland.
authors.forename: Adam
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-2830-5338
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kane
authors.affiliation: North Carolina Zoo, 4401 Zoo Parkway, Asheboro, NC, 27205, USA.
authors.forename: Corinne J
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-4429-4496
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Kendall
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001717:Birds; D003463:Cues; D046093:Falconiformes; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D007630:Kenya; D008322:Mammals
keywords: carrion; foraging; information transfer; inter-guild interactions; producer-scrounger; vultures