Don’t waste your time: predators avoid prey with conspicuous colors that signal long handling time

Abstract

Most studies on warning signal theory have focused on aposematic prey, which signal unpalatability through conspicuous signals. Palatable prey that are difficult to capture or process may also use conspicuous signals to advertise unprofitability to predators. Theory predicts that predators should avoid prey with long handling time, especially when other prey with shorter handling times are abundant. However, it is unclear if prey can benefit by signaling longer handling time. In experiments with dough models as prey, we show that chickens can learn to associate colors with increased handling time and avoid such prey when alternative prey are abundant. Overall, our experiment demonstrates that advertising longer handling time to predators can be advantageous to prey when other more profitable prey are abundant.