Raptor Perception of Mismatch in Seasonally Polyphenic Prey

AbstractUnderstanding how prey camouflage, behavior, and habitat interact to affect predator perception will clarify the mechanisms underlying predator-prey interactions. These questions are particularly critical for seasonally polyphenic prey facing increased predation risk owing to camouflage mismatch under decreasing snow cover. Using falconry-trained goshawks (Accipiter atricapillus), we experimentally evaluate how raptors perceive white and brown lures in snowy and bare ground conditions and assess how motion and habitat influence attack distance. We find that mismatch influences raptor detection of stationary models but not moving lures. Attack distances were greater in open habitats compared with forest. Mismatch with ground color significantly increased detectability of white hare models relative to mismatched brown hare models, suggesting unequal predation risk for mismatched white and brown morphs. Our results may imply fitness differences for winter-white and invariant-brown morphs of seasonally polyphenic species under future climate scenarios and implicate behavior as a risk factor.