Data from: From inexperience to proficiency: Age-related improvements shape the use of novel anthropogenic food subsidies in a long-lived bird

Worldwide, humans have altered ecosystems not only by reducing and
changing the distribution of resources, but also by providing new foraging
opportunities to wildlife. However, little is known about the early-life
development and maintenance of new foraging behaviours, which are crucial
for species to adapt to human-induced environmental changes. Using a
longitudinal GPS tracking dataset from 71 adult and 147 juvenile white
storks (Ciconia ciconia) tracked for up to six years, this study
investigates shifts in the exploitation of landfill resources during
ontogeny and explores whether selective survival, within-individual
improvements, or both shape the emergence of this behaviour. Landfill use
was found to increase with age. From their second year of life onwards,
white storks visit landfills more often than in their first year, forage
more in areas with abundant organic waste, and reduce their foraging
energy expenditure. Overall, this study reveals that the age-related
increase in the use of anthropogenic food sources is driven primarily by
within-individual improvements operating most strongly in early life,
rather than by selective survival of individuals that most frequently and
proficiently use landfill sites. As more species rely on anthropogenic
food subsidies, this work highlights how opportunistic species cope with
and adapt to human-driven environmental change, influencing individual
lifetime decisions and potentially impacting population dynamics.