These Beautiful Birds Form Something Like Lasting Friendships
Scientists have long known that social animals usually put blood relatives first. But for a study published Wednesday in the journal Nature, researchers crunched two decades of field data to show that unrelated members of a superb starling flock often help each other raise chicks, trading assistance to one another over years in a behavior that was not previously known.
'We think that these reciprocal helping relationships are a way to build ties,' said Dustin Rubenstein, a professor of ecology at Columbia University and an author of the paper.
Superb starlings are distinctive among animals that breed cooperatively, said Alexis Earl, a biologist at Cornell University and an author of the paper. Their flocks mix family groups with immigrants from other groups. New parents rely on up to 16 helpers, which bring chicks extra food and help run off predators.
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