DOI: 10.5061/dryad.m37pvmddm
title: Data from: Multiple scales of fear: Foraging behavior of white-naped jays in semiarid landscapes

description: Animals must constantly balance the need to find resources with the risk
 of predation. Not only avoiding direct encounters with predators but also
 assessing the overall risk of their environment using cues, social
 information, or habitat traits at multiple spatial and temporal scales.
 Although such a multiscale understanding of the landscape of fear has been
 recognized, few studies have simultaneously measured how habitat traits at
 different scales affect risk perception. We used a set of field-based
 giving-up density experiments to study risk perception of white-naped jays
 across 20 foraging patches in two semi-arid thorn forests in northeastern
 Brazil. We recorded data from 23 groups of jays, ranging from 2 to 15
 individuals per group. Foraging jays were exposed to a simulated predator
 (rubber snake), and patches varied in local and landscape-scale
 complexity. Jays consumed less food and increased vigilance in the
 presence of a predator, with this effect amplified in more complex patches
 with dense canopy cover. Vigilance was directly influenced by canopy cover
 and forest type (managed vs. regenerated). These findings underscore the
 dependency of risk perception on habitat complexity across various scales,
 indicating that simplifying habitats may create a less fearful
 environment, thereby increasing prey vulnerability by diminishing
 antipredator behaviours.
description: # Data from: Multiple scales of fear: Foraging behavior of white-naped
 jays in semiarid landscapes Dataset DOI:
 [10.5061/dryad.m37pvmddm](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.m37pvmddm) ##
 Description of the data and file structure We used a set of field-based
 giving-up density experiments to study risk perception of white-naped jays
 across 20 foraging patches in two semi-arid thorn forests in northeastern
 Brazil. We recorded data from 23 groups of jays, ranging from 2 to 15
 individuals per group. Foraging jays were exposed to a simulated predator
 (rubber snake), and patches varied in local and landscape-scale complexity
 (estimated using images - MIG). Each excel file has the raw data for one
 set of GUD experiments (2015, 2018 and 2019). Gralhas_gud_21_check
 includes habitat complexity estimates for each foraging patch, which were
 obtained in 2015. Missing data represented as NA. ### Files and variables
 #### File: DATA-GUD_Beiriz.zip **Description:**  Raw excel files – GUD
 experiments 2015,2018 and 2019 **File: Gralhas_gud_21_check** Data
 collected at the Fazenda Experimental Vale do Curu and Fazenda Não Me
 Deixes in 2015 – CE - Brazil *Variable names:* * ref: foraging patch -
 fazenda: study site (A1 =  Fazenda Experimental Vale do Curu; A2= Fazenda
 Não Me Deixes) * local: foraging patch - tree: percentage of the foraging
 patch covered by trees * bush: percentage of the foraging patch covered by
 bushes - land: percentage of the foraging patch without trees, bushes or
 grass * migall: Mean Information Gain estimated from all photographs taken
 at a foraging patch - migside: Mean Information Gain estimated from
 photographs taken at each side of a foraging patch * migtop: Mean
 Information Gain estimated from  the canopy photograph of a foraging patch
 - pred: presence or absence of a predator model at the foraging patch
 during experiment * gud: giving-up density - group: group size =  maximal
 number of jays at a foraging patch during an experiment * agress: number
 of aggressive interactions in a foraging patch during an experiment -
 share: number of interactions when jays shared food during an experiment *
 return: jays returned to the foraging patch after the presence of  a
 predator model: 1 = yes; 0 = no - treturn: time (seconds) after the
 presence of a predator model that jays took to return to the foraging
 patch * vigil: time spent vigilant (seconds) - tfeeder: time jays spent at
 the feeder (seconds) * tsite: total time jays spent at the foraging
 site(seconds) - propvigil: time spent vigilant/ total time jays spent at
 the foraging site(seconds) **File: gud_control** Data collected at Fazenda
 Experimental Vale do Curu in 2018 *Variable names:* * id: foraging patch -
 trial: day when the experiment was performed (four consecutive days: d1=
 first day; d2= second day; d3=third day; d4=fourth day) * ngroup: maximal
 number of jays at a foraging patch during an experiment - gud: giving-up
 density * agress: number of aggressive interactions in a foraging patch
 during an experiment - share: number of interactions when jays shared food
 during an experiment **File: pred_control** Data collected at Fazenda
 Experimental Vale do Curu in 2019 *Variable names:* * id: foraging patch -
 experiment: branch= a tree branch was used as a novel object at the
 foraging patch; free= no novel object was present at the foraging patch
 during the experiment; pred= a rubber rattlesnake was used as a novel
 object at the foraging patch during the experiment * ngroup: maximal
 number of jays at a foraging patch during an experiment - gud: giving-up
 density