Startling ravens Corvus corax at foraging: differences in anti-predator behaviour can be explained by age rather than personality

When individuals of the same population do not respond uniformly to the same situation, they might experience divergent fitness outcomes, such as different survival rates when facing danger. When these behavioural differences between individuals are consistent across time and contexts, they are referred to as ‘animal personality'. We here explored the response to a risky situation as a potential personality trait in free-ranging common ravens Corvus corax. We experimentally tested the repeatability of behavioural variables along the boldness–shyness axis of 12 individually marked ravens belonging to a large non-breeder population in the northern Alps. We played different audio cues of natural (i.e. calls of birds of prey) and human-induced (i.e. gunshots) threats during a predictable feeding situation and scored startle reactions of individual ravens. Results revealed age-specific differences in behavioural responses, but no consistency across time. Young ravens had shorter latencies to feed after our playback stimuli and all ravens reacted with more anti-predator behaviour towards birds of prey calls than gunshots. The missing affirmation of repeatability along the boldness–shyness axis is partly in line with previous findings on the exploration axis in captive ravens, and fits with the reports of high behavioural flexibility in this species. Nevertheless, it is conceivable that our present methodology for assessing boldness–shyness does not fully align with the situational strength and relevance required for foraging ravens, and/or that consistent inter-individual differences become pronounced at specific life stages (i.e. during breeding).