| Publication Type: | Journal Article |
| Year of Publication: | 1994 |
| Authors: | Parker, PG, Waite, TA, Heinrich, B, Marzluff, JM |
| Journal: | Animal Behaviour |
| Volume: | 48 |
| Issue: | 5 |
| Date Published: | 1994 |
| ISBN Number: | 0003-3472 |
| Keywords: | Corvidae, Corvus, Corvus corax |
| Abstract: | Abstract. Feeding aggregations of common ravens, Corvus corax, form at rare food resources (carcasses). These groups are assembled in part by the recruitment of vagrants by other vagrants. One benefit of recruitment is that vagrants in groups have improved access to the food because their numbers weaken the ability of local territorial adults to defend the resource. DNA fingerprinting was used to examine the genetic similarity of individuals within and between feeding groups, to determine directly whether ravens share rare food resources with close kin, and indirectly, whether kin selection may be involved in the maintenance of food-sharing behaviour in ravens. Kin occurred in different feeding groups as often as they occurred in the same feeding group, suggesting that feeding groups were not composed of cohesive genetic clans. This finding is consistent with previous claims, based on observations of rapid turnover of individuals at carcasses, that food-sharing behaviour in ravens is not primarily kin-directed. However, the level of kinship within feeding groups was non-negligible. Thus, although most ravens at carcasses were not in the company of close kin, some ravens did occur in feeding groups that contained at least one of their close relatives. However, any inclusive fitness benefit accruing from sharing food with close kin would be diluted because the food is also exploited by many unrelated individuals. We argue that sharing of food in our study population is unlikely to be a strongly kin-selected trait, but we are unable to eliminate the possibility that kin selection makes some minor contribution to its maintenance. |
| URL: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S000334728471342X |
| Short Title: | Animal Behaviour |
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