Affiliative social relationships and coccidian oocyst excretion in a cooperatively breeding bird species
Section snippets
Ethical Note
All procedures were conducted in accordance with the ASAB/ABS guidelines for the treatment of animals in behavioural research. Keeping crows in captivity and the procedures performed were authorized by Junta de Castilla y León (núcleo zoológico 005074/2008; EP/LE/358/2009).
Study Subjects
We collected data during seven phases (November 2008, December 2008–January 2009, January–February 2013, May–June 2013, January–February 2014, May–June 2014, September–October 2014), from a total of 36 crows (17 females, 19
Social Bonds
We recorded a mean ± SE of 23.64 ± 3.38 affiliative interactions per individual as well as 12.21 ± 2.41 aggressive interactions won and 17.51 ± 2.44 lost per individual. We observed 56 bonded dyads (out of 327 dyads in total), 37 of which were male–female dyads (17 between related individuals and 20 between unrelated individuals), 11 were male–male (seven between related and four between unrelated individuals) and eight female–female (seven related, one unrelated). Thirty-three dyads with a CSI higher
Discussion
In the present study, we have shown that carrion crows with closely bonded social partners (high CSI scores) were less likely to excrete coccidian oocysts, which represent an important threat for health in birds (Hõrak et al., 2004, Stenkewitz et al., 2016). Health correlates of high-quality social ties have been reported in humans (e.g. Seeman, 1996). Similar evidence has recently been found in nonhuman primates (Schülke et al., 2010, Silk et al., 2010a), suggesting that the tendency to form
Acknowledgments
We thank Kurt Kotrschal for feedback and discussion, Hugo Robles for statistical advice and Friederike Hillemann for help with collection of droppings. Alfredo Sánchez-Tójar advised on calculation of dated individual Elo-rating trajectories. We also thank Bernhard Voelkl and two anonymous referees for valuable comments on the manuscript. This work was supported by the Spanish Plan Nacional I+D, project CGL2011-27260 and CGL2016-77636-P, to V.B. and a KWA (‘kurzfristiges wissenschaftliches
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