Local dominance predicts foraging decisions in a changing environment

Abstract 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 to 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-quality food individuals consumed was influenced by their exploratory tendency, reversal learning performance, and local dominance. We found that local dominance (ie 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.