Watching Behavior

[Observing behavior] is an art requiring sensitivity and skill. Perfection is unattainable, a goal to be sought and pursued through selective training and persistent practice just as beauty or reality are sought by the sculptor, the musician or the poet. — John T. Emlen

The Four F's of Behavior... Plus One

Feeding, Fighting, Fleeing, and Reproductive Behavior

Not all animal behavior is embraced by the four F's, but most of what animals do has some connection to these crucial biological functions. But a fifth—Fellowship—cuts across the other four. By Fellowship, I refer to social behavior, communication, and interspecific relations.

all photos by SRR

Foraging and Hunting

Finding, Handling, Storing, Eating, Disposing

Southern Ground Hornbill catches a skink

Dung beetle rolling... what else?

Cape Buffalo with prehensile tongue

Great Blue Heron seizes a fish

Young Belding's ground squirrels scavenging an old snake carcass

Western Gull with a crab

Lion feeding on a carcass

Black Skimmer fishing at sunset

White backed Vultures waiting their turn at a Cheetah kill

Acorn Woodpecker at traditional granary

Anhinga spears a fish, probably a juvenile Mayan Cichlid, an invasive species in the Everglades

Agonistic Behavior

Territory and Dominance

Zebra stallions fighting

Fiddler Crabs contesting a burrow

Territorial display by Sceloporus occidentalis

Impala bucks in rut

Young African Elephants sparring

Play-fighting by two Dwarf Mongooses

Territorial display of Anolis sagrei

Antipredator Behavior

Camouflage, Mimicry, Warning, Flight, and Active Defense

Wary European Rabbit watching a fox

"Unken" reflex, an aposematic display of Rough-skinned Newt (Taricha granulosa) advertises extremely toxicity

Caterpillar of Western Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio rutulus) mimics a snake head. The eyespots are adornments and the "tongue" is the osmeterium, which also emits foul odor