Kleptoparasitism

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˌklɛptəʊˈpæɹəsɪtɪz(ə)m/

Definitions

1. A strategy in which an organism benefits by obtaining food or resources pilfered from another, often while both are feeding together in their environment
2. The practice where one species exploits the success of another by stealing the latter's gathered food or materials during foraging activities
3. A behavioral strategy where an individual scavenges or steals resources gathered by another, allowing them to gain nutritional benefits without expending effort in collection

Etymology: Kleptoparasitism is a modern scientific coinage built from two Greek-derived parts. The first, "klepto-", comes from the Greek "kleptein", meaning "to steal," and it appears in familiar words such as kleptomania. The second, "parasitism", describes a living arrangement in which one organism depends on another. Joined together, the pieces name a behaviour that sits between theft and parasitism: one animal takes food that another has already caught or gathered. The behaviour itself is easy to picture. A common tern might dive, catch a fish, and then find a black-headed gull snatching it away from the water's surface, or a tern might simply wait for an opportunity to steal from a gull. Both birds are feeding in the same place, but only one does the work of hunting. The thief gets a meal without the effort of catching it, which is exactly the benefit the term describes.