Learned kin recognition cues in a social bird

Abstract

In many cooperatively breeding birds, kin selection has an important role in the evolution and maintenance of social behaviour, and 'helpers' can maximize indirect fitness gains by preferentially allocating care to close relatives. Although there is evidence for kin-biased helping behaviour in several species, the mechanism of kin recognition underlying this behaviour is poorly understood. Vocalizations are the most commonly used cues in avian recognition systems, but the effectiveness of vocal signals as reliable recognition cues must depend on how they are acquired. However, there have been no experimental studies of the development of vocal recognition cues in cooperative birds; indeed, the ontogeny of all bird vocalizations other than song is poorly known in any species. Here, we show that cooperatively breeding long-tailed tits (Aegithalos caudatus) can discriminate between kin and non-kin according to the individual-specific characteristics of contact calls, and show experimentally that individuals learn these calls from provisioning adults during the nestling period. Finally, we show that the pattern of cooperative behaviour in this species is consistent with the use of recognition cues learned through association.

Kin recognition is a nutrient-dependent inducible phenomenon

“…In some respects these chemical exchanges are not entirely unlike the vocalizations utilized by songbirds to coordinate social behaviors. 4 The continued exploration of the convergence of the prokaryotic and eukaryotic world on these solutions for resource utilization and competition has substantial value in the natural world as well as across multiple disciplines.…”

“…[1][2][3][4] Many of the 'social' behaviors displayed by these organisms are based on discriminating between related and unrelated conspecifics (same species) to limit both resource competition as well as inbreeding. [5][6][7] Through careful observation the existence of analogous social behaviors in plants has been confirmed.…”

Effect of kinship on the allopreening among juvenile Bengalese finches

“…Komdeur & Hatchwell 1999;Komdeur et al 2004;Sharp et al 2005), but has been described primarily in cooperative breeding species. These kin-directed social behaviors have generally been observed in the context of social foraging where producing and scrounging occur among flock members (e.g.…”

Passion and Compassion: Psychology of Kin Relations Within and Beyond the Family

“…He needs more diagnostic information. (Sharp, McGowan, Wood, & Hatchwell, 2005;Yamazaki et al, 1988). Of course, in such cases, the phenotype matching mechanisms are no more diagnostic than the familiarity mechanism on which they are based.…”