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

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.76hdr7t6g](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.76hdr7t6g)

## Description of the data and file structure

All animal handling and device deployment procedures were approved by the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests in Portugal (license numbers: 493/2016/CAPT; 661-663/2017/CAPT; 548-550/2018/CAPT; 247-250/2019/CAPT; 364-368/2020/CAPT; 198-202/2021/CAPT) and carried out in agreement with their recommendations.

### Files and variables

#### File: Whitestorks_dataset.csv

**Description:** 

##### Variables

* field_1: GPS location code
* individual: Individual ID code
* Year: Calendar year
* X: GPS location ID
* timestamp: Timestamp
* Record_typ: GPS Device Registration Type
* PCBType: GPS device type
* predBeh: Predictable behaviour
* dist_km_lo: Distance from previous location in km
* dif_min_lo: Minimum diff...,