Should sons breed independently or help? Local relatedness matters

In cooperatively breeding birds, why do some individuals breed independently but others have to help at home? This question has been rarely addressed despite its fundamental importance for understanding the evolution of social cooperation. We address it using 15 years of data from Tibetan ground tits Pseudopodoces humilis where helpers consist of younger males. Since whether younger males successfully breed depends critically on their chances to occupy territories nearby home, our analytic strategy is to identify the determinants of individual differences in gaining territory ownership among these ready-to-breed males. Across widowed, last-year helper and yearling males, an age advantage was evident in inheriting resident territories, occupying adjacent vacancies and budding off part of adjacent territories, which left some last-year helpers and most yearling males to take the latter two routes. These males were more likely to acquire a territory if they were genetically related to the previous or current territory owners; otherwise they remained on natal territories as helpers. The relatedness effect can arise from the prior residence advantage established in the preceding winter when younger males followed their parents to perform kin-directed off-territory forays. Our research highlights the key role of local kinship in determining younger males' territory acquisition and thus their fate in terms of independent reproduction versus help. This finding provides insight into the formation of kin-based, facultative cooperative societies prevailing among vertebrates.