Social relationships promote access to food and information in wild jackdaws

Abstract

Many social animals form differentiated social relationships that can influence fitness, yet the mechanisms behind these benefits are often unclear. Does the presence of social partners during foraging enhance access to food or information? Might individuals also incur short-term costs, for example by foregoing feeding opportunities to remain with and support social partners? Here, we investigated how social relationships shape foraging decisions and outcomes in wild jackdaws (Corvus monedula) using automated RFID feeding stations where two birds could perch, but only one could feed with the other queueing behind ("dyadic events"). Bonded social partners (pair-bonded mates and direct kin) engaged in these dyadic events more frequently and coordinated their visits, as shown by shorter dyadic arrival latencies. Bonded partners also showed higher social tolerance, with feeding individuals benefitting from increased food intake when their partner was present, while queuing individuals accepted short-term opportunity costs to remain with them. For juveniles, queuing with parents promoted social learning about feeder use. These findings show that social relationships influence decision-making and foraging performance in the wild, revealing both benefits and costs of maintaining close bonds. Short-term effects on foraging success may therefore contribute to long-term fitness advantages of strong social relationships.