Summary
Many birds accumulate fat reserves prior to departure on long distance migration. Since there will be an increased food requirement during the pre-migratory period, it is to be expected that more time will be invested in foraging, at the expense of other activities. The allocation of time to anti-predatory behavior in migratory ruddy turnstones (adults) was found to decrease prior to migration (Fig. 1); non-migratory individuals (juveniles) showed no decrease over the same time period (Fig. 2). This is interpreted as a change in the optimal adult behavior, the cost of a reduced rate of resource accumulation outweighing the additional risk of predation which results from the decrease in vigilance.
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Metcalfe, N.B., Furness, R.W. Changing priorities: the effect of pre-migratory fattening on the trade-off between foraging and vigilance. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 15, 203–206 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00292976
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00292976