An investigation of personality-related recapture bias in black-capped chickadees, Poecile atricapillus

• Published in: Animal behaviour Vol. 196; pp. 103 - 112
• Main Authors: LaRocque, Megan, Arteaga-Torres, Josue David, Haave-Audet, Elène, Sridharan, Sheeraja, Wijmenga, Jan J., Mathot, Kimberley J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.02.2023
• Subjects: animal personality; boldness; foraging activity; passerine; passive integrated transponder (PIT) tag; sampling bias; animal personality; boldness; passive integrated transponder (PIT) tag; passerine; sampling bias; foraging activity
• ISSN: 0003-3472; 1095-8282
• DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2022.12.007

Within populations, individuals exhibit repeatable differences in behaviour, known as animal personality. These among-individual differences in behaviour can have important ecological and evolutionary consequences. One potential consequence of animal personality is (re-)capture bias, where individuals with certain behavioural types have a greater probability of being captured and/or recaptured for study. Assessing potential personality-related (re-)capture bias is important, as it can lead to biased population level inferences. Using a sample of previously captured black-capped chickadees, we explored whether individual recapture probability is affected by sex and five behavioural traits that show repeatable among-individual variation (i.e. animal personality). We found no evidence that recapture probability varied as a function of exploration, handling aggression or sampling behaviour. However, we found some support for an effect of sex, with males being less likely to be recaptured compared to females. Furthermore, there was moderate support for an effect of both feeding rate and latency to resume feeding after manipulation of perceived predation risk. Consistent with findings from a range of taxa, we found that individuals with higher baseline feeding rates and individuals with shorter latencies to resume feeding had a greater tendency to be recaptured. This may indicate that individuals with higher energetic needs, demonstrated by greater foraging activity in both benign and high perceived predation risk contexts, have a greater likelihood of being recaptured in the vicinity of feeders. However, given the breadth of the confidence intervals around estimated effect sizes, this result should be interpreted with caution. Nevertheless, given that among-individual differences in energy requirements are ubiquitous and have been shown to covary with a range of traits, we suggest that recapture biases may be the norm rather than the exception and propose solutions to mitigate the extent of foraging-related recapture bias. •The behaviour of individuals can affect how likely they are to be (re-)captured.•We investigated recapture biases in free-living black-capped chickadees.•Recapture was not affected by exploration, aggression or sampling.•Recapture tended to increase with feeding rates and risk taking.•Mitigating recapture bias is necessary to draw unbiased population level inferences.