Time allocation and vigilance behaviour of Greater Flamingos (Phoenicopterus roseus) wintering in the Gulf of Gabes, Tunisia

摘要

We studied time allocation and vigilance behaviour of Greater Flamingos (Phoenicopterus roseus) wintering in the Gulf of Gabes. In particular, we tested the relationships between time devoted to vigilance and that devoted to foraging and sleeping, andinvestigated variation in individual vigilance level with group size and group activity. Our results suggest that vigilance behaviour is costly for flamingos wintering in the Gulf of Gabes, in that significant trade-offs were found between vigilance andforaging, and between vigilance and sleeping. We also found that vigilance level of individual flamingos was dependent on group activity and group size. Overall, flamingos were most vigilant during mixed activities and vigilance level increased with group size. The latter result could be due to the increase in competition and social friction with group size.