The Florida Scrub Jay (MPB-20), Volume 20: Demography of a Cooperative-Breeding Bird. (MPB-20) (Monographs in Population Biology Book 112)

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. Cover Page Half-title Page Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Contents Preface 1. Introduction 1.1. The Problem 1.2. Our Approach 1.3. Case Histories 1.4. Organization 2. Procedures 2.1. Archbold Biological Station 2.2. Open Habitat 2.3. Tame Jays 2.4. Field Procedures 2.5. Tabular Data 3. The Scrub Jay in Florida Synopsis 3.1. Geographic History 3.2. The Scrub Habitat 3.3. Florida Scrub Jay Habitat Use 3.4. Food 3.5. Population Density 3.6. Western Scrub Jays 3.7. Conclusions 4. The Pair Bond Synopsis 4.1. Evidence for Monogamy 4.2. Duration of Pair Bonds 4.3. Bigamy 4.4. Age at First Breeding 4.5. Fates of Widowed Jays 4.6. Close Inbreeding 4.7. Adopted Helpers 4.8. Advantages of Mate Fidelity 4.9. Conclusions 5. Helpers Synopsis 5.1. Number of Helpers 5.2. Activities of Helpers 5.3. Sex and Age of Helpers 5.4. Whom Helpers Help 5.5. Intrafamilial Dominance 5.6. Conclusions 6. Territory Synopsis 6.1. Boundary Stability and Permanence of Ownership 6.2. The Average Territory 6.3. Territory Size and Family Size 6.4. Sex of Helpers and Territorial Growth 6.5. Variation in Territory Quality 6.6. Disappearance of Territories 6.7. Advantages of Large Territories 6.8. Conclusions 7. Dispersal Synopsis 7.1. Obtaining Breeding Space 7.2. Departures of Groups 7.3. Dispersal Distances 7.4. Seasonality of Dispersal 7.5. Dispersal Forays 7.6. Fledgling Wandering 7.7. Territorial Budding 7.8. Multipair Territories 7.9. Dispersal and Budding in Relation to Family and Territory Size 7.10. Effective Population Size and Inbreeding 7.11. Conclusions 8. Reproduction Synopsis 8.1. The Breeding Cycle 8.2. Annual Fledgling Production 8.3. Do Helpers Help? 8.4. Causes of Nesting Failure 8.5. Is There an Optimal Clutch Size? 8.6. Annual Variation in Reproductive Success 8.7. Fecundity and Age of Breeder 8.8. Hypotheses for Helpers Benefiting from Helping 8.9. Per Capita Reproductive Success 8.10. Conclusions 9. Survivorship and the Life Table Synopsis 9.1. First-Year Survival 9.2. Survival of Breeders 9.3. Survival of Older Helpers 9.4. Life Table and Age Structure 9.5. lxmx and Intrinsic Rate of Increase 9.6. Conclusions 10. Evolution of Florida Scrub Jay Sociality Synopsis 10.1. Estimating Fitness 10.2. Alternative Strategies for Nonbreeders 10.3. Breeding-Space Competition and Evolution of Cooperative Breeding 10.4. The Evolution of Cooperative Breeding in Aphelocoma 10.5. Recent and Future Directions Epilogue Appendixes References Author Index Subject Index Florida Scrub Jays are an excellent example of a cooperative-breeding species. This book provides 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. Glen E. Woolfenden And John W. Fitzpatrick. Includes Indexes. Bibliography: P. [379]-396.