Intraspecific interactions among predators can change the game between a predator and its prey. Individuals of different size or sex can differ in their responses to conspecific competitors. We studied intraspecific interactions among pairs of little egrets (Egretta garzetta) while foraging on responsive prey (comet goldfish, Carassius auratus). Testing little egrets in an artificial patchy environment both singly and while engaged in social forging in pairs (male & female) at two prey densities, allowed us to explore individual differences in foraging success. We found sexual dimorphism with males being bigger and more aggressive than females. However, female foraging success was positively affected by the time they spent foraging with a conspecific male, suggesting they might be able to mitigate male aggressiveness with an indirect positive interaction. Despite the presence of direct interactions between individuals in the pair, egret foraging success was not affected by such interactions, nor by prey density. Our results demonstrate the importance of sex and an individual's ability to adjust its social behaviour based on the behaviour of others in this predator-prey foraging game.

中文翻译：

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社会觅食对小白鹭（Egretta garzetta）觅食成功的影响

捕食者之间的种内相互作用可以改变捕食者与其猎物之间的博弈。不同体型或性别的个体对同种竞争者的反应可能不同。我们研究了成对的小白鹭 (Egretta garzetta) 在觅食反应灵敏的猎物（彗星金鱼、Carassius auratus）时的种内相互作用。在人工斑驳的环境中测试小白鹭单独和成对（雄性和雌性）在两种猎物密度下进行社会锻造，使我们能够探索觅食成功的个体差异。我们发现雄性比雌性更大，更具攻击性。然而，雌性觅食成功受到她们与同种雄性觅食时间的积极影响，表明他们可能能够通过间接的积极互动来减轻男性的攻击性。尽管成对个体之间存在直接相互作用，但白鹭觅食成功不受这种相互作用的影响，也不受猎物密度的影响。我们的研究结果证明了性别的重要性以及个人在这种捕食者-猎物觅食游戏中根据他人行为调整其社会行为的能力。