We examined the effect of patch size and competitor number on aggression among house sparrows, Passer domesticus, foraging at patches of seven different sizes in a doubling series (0.014, 0.029, 0.058, 0.116, 0.230, 0.462, and 0.922 m-super-2). Contrary to our expectations, the birds did not...

The ideal free distribution (IFD) is a stable distribution of competitors among resource patches. For equally efficient competitors, equilibrium is reached when the per capita rate of intake equalizes across patches. The seminal version of the IFD assumes omniscience, but populations may still...