Cooperative nest building in wild jackdaw pairs

Abstract

Animals create diverse structures, both individually and cooperatively, using materials from their environment. One striking example is the nests birds build for reproduction, which protect the offspring from external stressors such as predators and temperature, promoting reproductive success. To construct a nest successfully, birds need to make various decisions, for example regarding the nest material and their time budgets. Research has focused mainly on species where one sex is primarily responsible for building the nest. In contrast, the cooperative strategies of monogamous species in which both sexes contribute to nest building are poorly understood. Here we investigated the role of both sexes in nest building and fitness correlates of behaviour in wild, monogamous jackdaw pairs, Corvus monedula . We show that both partners contributed to nest building and behaved similarly, with females and males present in the nestbox for a comparable duration and transporting material to the nest equally often. However, while females spent more time constructing the nest, males tended to invest more time in vigilance, potentially as a means of coping with competition for nest cavities. These findings suggest a moderate degree of division of labour, which may facilitate cooperation. Moreover, some aspects of behaviour were related to proxies of reproductive success (lay date and egg volume). Females that contributed relatively more to bringing material laid earlier clutches and pairs that spent less time together in the nestbox had larger eggs. Thus, selection pressures may act on how nest-building pairs spend their time and cooperatively divide the labour. We conclude that cooperative nest building in birds could be associated with monogamy and obligate biparental care and provides a vital but relatively untapped context through which to study the evolution of cooperation. • In monogamous jackdaws, mates behaved similarly and cooperated to build their nest. • Females built more and called more frequently; males tended to be more vigilant. • Females that contributed relatively more to bringing material had earlier clutches. • Pairs that spent more time together in the nestbox laid smaller eggs. • Cooperation may be crucial in light of genetic monogamy and nest site competition.