Cooperative Breeding in Gray Jays: Philopatric Offspring Provision Juvenile Siblings

We present evidence for cooperative breeding in Gray Jays (Perisoreus canadensis), a species characterized by delayed dispersal but long thought not to exhibit the life-history tactic of helping. Our findings to date suggest that the alloparental care of younger siblings by philopatric yearlings is confined to the post-fledging period of nutritional dependence. We encourage other workers to investigate whether helping may be confined to this period in other semi-social species as well. Ongoing work is aimed at evaluating the fitness consequences of helping in our study population.