Architectural traditions in the structures built by cooperative weaver birds

Maria C Tello-Ramos; Lucy Harper; Isabella Tortora-Brayda; Lauren M Guillette; Pablo Capilla-Lasheras; Xavier A Harrison; Andrew J Young; Susan D Healy

doi:10.1126/science.adn2573

Architectural traditions in the structures built by cooperative weaver birds

Maria C Tello-Ramos^*, Lucy Harper, Isabella Tortora-Brayda, Lauren M Guillette, Pablo Capilla-Lasheras, Xavier A Harrison, Andrew J Young, Susan D Healy

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Humans cooperate to build complex structures with culture-specific architectural styles. However, they are not the only animals to build complex structures nor to have culture. We show that social groups of white-browed sparrow weavers (Plocepasser mahali) build structures (nests for breeding and multiple single-occupant roosts for sleeping) that differ architecturally among groups. Morphological differences are consistent across years and are clear even among groups with territories a few meters apart. These repeatable differences are not explained by among-group variation in local weather conditions, bird size, tree height, or patterns of genetic relatedness. Architectural styles are also robust to the immigration of birds from other groups.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1004-1009
Number of pages	6
Journal	Science
Volume	385
Issue number	6712
Early online date	29 Aug 2024
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adn2573
Publication status	Published - 30 Aug 2024

Keywords

Nesting behavior
Animals
Sparrows - physiology
Cooperative behavior

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1126/science.adn2573

TelloRamos_et_al_2024_Architectural_traditions_Science_AAM_CCBY
Copyright © 2024 the Authors. This work has been made available online in accordance with the University of St Andrews Open Access policy. This accepted manuscript is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. The final published version of this work is available at https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adn2573.
Accepted author manuscript, 2.25 MBLicence: CC BY

Nest Building in Birds: Nest building in birds: a case of collaborative intelligence.
Healy, S. (PI)
Templeton World Charity Foundation
1/09/17 → 29/02/20
Project: Standard
Social Learning in nest-building birds: Social Learning in nest-building birds
Guillette, L. (PI)
BBSRC
2/03/15 → 1/03/18
Project: Fellowship

Cite this

@article{084e096795814fac9a4c3536984afba4,

title = "Architectural traditions in the structures built by cooperative weaver birds",

abstract = "Humans cooperate to build complex structures with culture-specific architectural styles. However, they are not the only animals to build complex structures nor to have culture. We show that social groups of white-browed sparrow weavers (Plocepasser mahali) build structures (nests for breeding and multiple single-occupant roosts for sleeping) that differ architecturally among groups. Morphological differences are consistent across years and are clear even among groups with territories a few meters apart. These repeatable differences are not explained by among-group variation in local weather conditions, bird size, tree height, or patterns of genetic relatedness. Architectural styles are also robust to the immigration of birds from other groups.",

keywords = "Nesting behavior, Animals, Sparrows - physiology, Cooperative behavior",

author = "Tello-Ramos, {Maria C} and Lucy Harper and Isabella Tortora-Brayda and Guillette, {Lauren M} and Pablo Capilla-Lasheras and Harrison, {Xavier A} and Young, {Andrew J} and Healy, {Susan D}",

note = "Funding: Templeton World Charity Foundation (TWCF0210 to S.D.H.); The National Geographic Foundation (EC-58859R-19 to M.C.T.R.);Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)–funded PhD studentship (BB/M009122/1 to P.C.-L.); Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) AFLF: BB/M013944/1 (to L.M.G.); Newton International Fellowship Alumni: AL\191054 (to L.M.G.); Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada: NSERC RGPIN-2019-04733 (to L.M.G.); Canada Research Chairs (Tier 2) Program: CRC-2021-00418 (to L.M.G.). The long-term field study was funded by BBSRC David Phillips and NERC Blue Skies Research Fellowships to A.J.Y. (BB/H022716/1 and NE/E013481/1).",

year = "2024",

month = aug,

day = "30",

doi = "10.1126/science.adn2573",

language = "English",

volume = "385",

pages = "1004--1009",

journal = "Science",

issn = "0036-8075",

publisher = "American Association for the Advancement of Science",

number = "6712",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Architectural traditions in the structures built by cooperative weaver birds

AU - Tello-Ramos, Maria C

AU - Harper, Lucy

AU - Tortora-Brayda, Isabella

AU - Guillette, Lauren M

AU - Capilla-Lasheras, Pablo

AU - Harrison, Xavier A

AU - Young, Andrew J

AU - Healy, Susan D

N1 - Funding: Templeton World Charity Foundation (TWCF0210 to S.D.H.); The National Geographic Foundation (EC-58859R-19 to M.C.T.R.);Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)–funded PhD studentship (BB/M009122/1 to P.C.-L.); Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) AFLF: BB/M013944/1 (to L.M.G.); Newton International Fellowship Alumni: AL\191054 (to L.M.G.); Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada: NSERC RGPIN-2019-04733 (to L.M.G.); Canada Research Chairs (Tier 2) Program: CRC-2021-00418 (to L.M.G.). The long-term field study was funded by BBSRC David Phillips and NERC Blue Skies Research Fellowships to A.J.Y. (BB/H022716/1 and NE/E013481/1).

PY - 2024/8/30

Y1 - 2024/8/30

N2 - Humans cooperate to build complex structures with culture-specific architectural styles. However, they are not the only animals to build complex structures nor to have culture. We show that social groups of white-browed sparrow weavers (Plocepasser mahali) build structures (nests for breeding and multiple single-occupant roosts for sleeping) that differ architecturally among groups. Morphological differences are consistent across years and are clear even among groups with territories a few meters apart. These repeatable differences are not explained by among-group variation in local weather conditions, bird size, tree height, or patterns of genetic relatedness. Architectural styles are also robust to the immigration of birds from other groups.

AB - Humans cooperate to build complex structures with culture-specific architectural styles. However, they are not the only animals to build complex structures nor to have culture. We show that social groups of white-browed sparrow weavers (Plocepasser mahali) build structures (nests for breeding and multiple single-occupant roosts for sleeping) that differ architecturally among groups. Morphological differences are consistent across years and are clear even among groups with territories a few meters apart. These repeatable differences are not explained by among-group variation in local weather conditions, bird size, tree height, or patterns of genetic relatedness. Architectural styles are also robust to the immigration of birds from other groups.

KW - Nesting behavior

KW - Animals

KW - Sparrows - physiology

KW - Cooperative behavior

U2 - 10.1126/science.adn2573

DO - 10.1126/science.adn2573

M3 - Article

C2 - 39208095

SN - 0036-8075

VL - 385

SP - 1004

EP - 1009

JO - Science

JF - Science

IS - 6712

ER -

Architectural traditions in the structures built by cooperative weaver birds

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Projects

Nest Building in Birds: Nest building in birds: a case of collaborative intelligence.

Social Learning in nest-building birds: Social Learning in nest-building birds

Cite this