Florida Scrub Jays are an excellent example of a
cooperative-breeding species, in which adult birds often help raise
offspring not their own. For more than a decade Glen E. Woolfenden
and John W. Fitzpatrick studied a marked population of these birds
in an attempt to establish a demographic base for understanding the
phenomenon of "helping at the nest." By studying both population
biology and behavior, the authors found that habitat restraints,
rather than kin selection, are the main source of the behavior of
Florida Scrub Jays: the goal of increasing the number of close
relatives other than descendants in future generations is of
relatively minor importance in their cooperative-breeding
behavior.
The Florida Scrub Jay lives only in the Florida oak scrub. All
acceptable habitat is constantly filled with breeders. Each year
about half of the pairs are assisted by one to several nonbreeding
helpers. This book provides extensive data on fecundity,
survivorship, relatedness, and dispersal to establish the
demographic milieu and to address questions arising out of observed
helping behavior--whom, how, when, and why the helpers help.
General
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