Aerial hunting techniques and predation success of Hobbies Falco subbuteo on Sand Martin Riparia riparia at breeding colonies

in animals are potential anti-predator benefits, including the many-eyes effect, predator confusion, the dilution of individual risk of being caught when part of a large group, and the selfish herd effect (Krause & Ruxton 2002). The many-eyes effect postulates that an increased number of potential prey individuals scanning for predators are more effective at detecting their approach, and this early detection is associated with the transmission of this information throughout the group (Kenward 1978, Godin et al. 1988, Cresswell 1994). Groups can act to confuse predators, and so when faced with larger groups, predators have a lowered hunting success because they are unable to single out an individual on which to concentrate their attack (Neill & Cullen 1974, Caraco et al. 1980, Krakauer 1995, Carere et al. 2009). The dilution effect predicts the likelihood of any individual of a group being Aerial hunting techniques and predation success of Hobbies Falco subbuteo on Sand Martin Riparia riparia at breeding colonies