Local dominance predicts foraging decisions in a changing environment

Unpredictable environmental conditions due to climate change affect the
availability and quality of food resources, a limiting factor for
survival. Behavioral plasticity is one of the most important mechanisms
that help individuals face rapid environmental changes. However, we still
lack experimental information on how foraging decisions are modulated by
other behavioral traits when facing changes in food resources. In this
study, we aimed to explore how individual foraging decisions regarding
food quality are related to exploratory behavior, cognitive flexibility,
and local dominance in wild great tits (Parus major). We offered different
food types varying in quality at supplementary feeders and subsequently
changed the availability and location of these food types. We then
assessed whether the proportion of high food-quality individuals consumed
was influenced by their exploratory tendency, reversal learning
performance, and local dominance. We found that local dominance (i.e.,
distance from territory to the feeder), but not exploratory tendency or
reversal learning performance, affected the fraction of high-quality food
in an individual's diet. Locally dominant individuals were
constrained in their response to changes in the quality of available
resources, leading them to stay at their preferred feeder even when this
was providing low-quality food alone. In conclusion, we show the
importance of the social context when studying the behavioral mechanisms
of adaptation to changing environments in wild animals.