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Flexible Helping Behaviour in the Azure‐Winged Magpie by Juliana Valencia; Carlos de la Cruz; Beatriz González is a Environmental Science article available to read on EtoBox.

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## Abstract Helping to rear the offspring of others may be a way for younger birds to gain access to future reproduction especially when turnover of breeding opportunities is low. However, this explanation is not applicable to cases where adults also help, or when roles shift between helpers and breeders. Over a period of 6‐yr, we studied a marked population of azure‐winged Magpie (__Cyanopica cyanus__) breeding in a non‐territorial, colonial system. Magpies bred in a highly flexible cooperative system, in which individuals helped at different stages of the breeding cycle, including nest building, feeding the incubating female and feeding the young and removing the faecal sacs. On average, 50% of hatched nests were assisted by helpers‐at‐the‐nest, and nest success appeared to be positively related to the presence of helpers. Helpers were predominantly males. Although juveniles were more likely to help, both juvenile and adult birds helped. Individual birds behaved as helpers either as a first‐option or after having attempted their own breeding (second‐option helpers). An individual helper may assist more than one nest during the same breeding season and in different breeding season

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Author

Juliana Valencia; Carlos de la Cruz; Beatriz González

Publisher

John Wiley and Sons; Wiley (Blackwell Publishing); Blackwell Publishing Inc.; Wiley (ISSN 1439-0310)

Published

2003

Language

EN

Field

Environmental Science (Physical Sciences)