Bolder, older, and selective: factors of individual-specific foraging behaviors in Steller’s jays

Several species of animals, particularly corvids, will sample from a collection of items before making a decision. There is an expected trade-off between investing effort in making better choices and increased exposure to risk. Little is known about individuals’ consistency in sampling behavior and whether it covaries with other behavior traits. Risk-taking and neophobia are documented components of behavioral syndromes; we examined whether sampling behavior is comparable. We quantified food sampling behavior (i.e., number of items sampled, visit duration, and number of items taken) of individual Steller’s jays (Cyanocitta stelleri) during experimental field trials. Sampling behavior of individual jays was moderately repeatable within and between winter field seasons and was positively correlated with birds’ willingness to approach a novel object and take food in front of a predator mount. These results suggest that food sampling is a measurable component in the suite of traits comprising the Steller’s jay behavioral syndrome. Model selection techniques indicated that sampling behavior was more common in older, neophilic, risk-prone, larger jays, whereas jays that took multiple items were more likely to be older and risk-prone. This suggests that experience and size may additionally influence individuals’ habitual foraging behaviors.