Producers and scroungers: A general model and its application to captive flocks of house sparrows

@article{Barnard1981ProducersAS,
  title={Producers and scroungers: A general model and its application to captive flocks of house sparrows},
  author={C. Barnard and R. Sibly},
  journal={Animal Behaviour},
  year={1981},
  volume={29},
  pages={543-550}
}
Abstract Many forms of interaction within and between species appear to be based on ‘scrounger’ individuals or species exploiting a limited resource provided ‘producers’. A mathematical model is presented which shows whether or not scroungers are maintained in a group, depending on their frequency and the group size. Some of the predictions of the model were tested in captive flocks of house sparrows Passer domesticus L. Here the scroungers obtained most of their food (mealworms) by interaction… Expand
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673 Citations
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Background Citations
268
Methods Citations
54
Results Citations
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673 Citations

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Producers, Scroungers, and Group Foraging
TLDR
A model that reconciles information-sharing and producer-scrounger models of group foraging and an opportunistic forager that can both produce and scrounge but with reduced efficiency is developed. Expand
Producers, scroungers and the price of a free meal
TLDR
A model of social foraging acknowledging the finder's advantage and foraging role asymmetries among individuals but incorporating the possibility that producers and scroungers differ in vigilance level and in vulnerability to predators is presented, allowing simultaneous examination of both foraging benefits and anti-predatory aspects of grouping behaviour. Expand
Early experience affects producer–scrounger foraging tendencies in the house sparrow
Group foragers can use a ‘producer’ tactic which involves searching for food or a ‘scrounger’ tactic which involves joining others who have discovered food. While these alternative behaviours are… Expand
Effects of ecology and prey characteristics on the use of alternative social foraging tactics in crows, Corvus caurinus
The producer–scrounger model assumes that producers are animals that search for food, and scroungers are animals that steal food found by producers. By following foraging decisions made by… Expand
A test of the producer-scrounger foraging game in captive flocks of spice finches, Loncbura punctulata
TLDR
It is suggested that spice finches can alter their allocation to each foraging alternative by experience and that the producer-scrounger game is a realistic model for predicting group foraging decisions. Expand
A field investigation of scrounging in semipalmated sandpipers
TLDR
The results show unequal payoffs for producing and scrounging in this system and suggest that low success in finding patches elicited scrounge, a measure of foraging payoffs. Expand
Exchangeable producer and scrounger roles in a captive flock of feral pigeons: a case for the skill pool effect
TLDR
Monitoring the number of food patches each individual produced suggested the existence of producer and scrounger roles, which suggests that, in a group, different foraging specialists will profit by parasitizing each other's food discoveries. Expand
Phenotypic Correlates of Scrounging Behavior in Zebra Finches: Role of Foraging Efficiency and Dominance
TLDR
A link between boldness, foraging efficiency and the choice of foraging tactics in small flocks of zebra finches is suggested, suggesting that birds that arrived later on the foraging grid foraged less efficiently when scrounging was prevented and used scounging to a greater extent when allowed. Expand
Zebra finches in poor condition produce more and consume more food in a producer–scrounger game
TLDR
This study assessed the influence of natural variation in body condition on the differential use of social foraging tactics and their resulting payoffs in zebra finches and found the producer tactic was found to yield more consistent and predictable rewards across trials than the scrounger tactic. Expand
Patch exploitation in a producer-scrounger system: test of a hypothesis using flocks of spice finches (Lonchura punctulata)
TLDR
An extension of the marginal value theorem of patch exploitation that includes the producer-scrounger dynamics is developed and the results show that the producers of a patch often leave as scroungers join their food discoveries because the payoffs from leaving exceed those from staying. Expand
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