Meeting Abstract
Accurate quantification of social interactions remains one of the great challenges for understanding animal behavior. Recent advances in digital radio tag technology enable the collection of large amounts of data useful for the construction of social networks. We are using Encounternet digital transceiver tags that function as proximity loggers, detecting ID pulses and received signal strength of other tags. We deployed Encounternet tags on barn swallows for four days and recorded close (<5m) interactions during three hour morning and three hour evening sampling periods. This system allows us to reconstruct the social network based on dyadic interactions of tagged birds weighted by the number of interactions or the time spent interacting. The proximity tags record the signal strength of the interacting tag, so with knowledge of the relationship between distance and radio signal strength, we are able to construct networks based on close encounters (e.g., body contact) vs. loose spatial affiliations. We quantified social contacts in one population of tagged barn swallows and tested how phenotypic and physiological variation, as well as variation in reproductive performance, is associated with network structure.
