Tactile-searching dunlins Calidris alpina fed selectively in small-scale depressions on an intertidal mudflat in the Danish Wadden Sea.This choice of microhabitat could be related to higher sediment penetrabhty in depressions compared with the surrounding flats, allowing the peck depth to be doubled.A model is presented describing the probability of dunlins detecting the predominant prey item Hydrobia ulvae as a function of peck depth.The model predicts that the increased peck depth in depressions would improve foraging success 4-fold.It is suggested that the presence of depression and the accompanying increase in sediment penetrability not only account for the selection of microhabitat but also affect the distribution of dunlins on a larger spatial scale.
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Mouritsen et al. (1992) studied this question.
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