DOI: 10.5061/dryad.vq83bk453
title: Timing and social dynamics of divorce in wild great tits: A phenomenological approach

description: Social behaviour is a key part of life for many species. In monogamously
 breeding species, social associations between breeding partners are
 particularly important. Selection of a breeding partner often begins well
 before reproduction, and this process can affect subsequent reproductive
 success. Thus, the non-breeding season can shape behaviour during the
 breeding season. However, it is currently unknown how breeding season
 outcomes can impact associate choice during the non-breeding season, as
 studying this requires high volumes of cross-context individual social
 data. This study used three years of wild great tit social data from
 Wytham Woods, Oxford, UK, to examine social associations between pairs
 classified with respect to prior and future breeding status (divorcing,
 faithful, new and juvenile). We found distinct patterns of social
 association in ’divorcing’ pairs from early winter, suggesting that
 divorce is an ongoing behavioural process. Newly forming pairs initially
 associated similarly to divorcing pairs, but became similar to faithful
 pairs over time. On a finer spatiotemporal scale, the behaviour of
 faithful and divorcing birds diverged over the winter. These results
 provide the first evidence of a behavioural signature of divorce during
 the non-breeding season in great tits, while suggesting that different
 behaviours may drive behavioural divorce at different times.
description: # Timing and social dynamics of divorce in wild great tits: A
 phenomenological approach ##### Abraham, A. D.; Sheldon, B. C.; Firth, J.
 A. Manuscript DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2024.3065 Dataset DOI:
 [10.5061/dryad.vq83bk453](10.5061/dryad.vq83bk453) ## Description of the
 data and file structure Three years of wild great tit social data were
 used to analyse how winter (non-breeding) behaviour differs between
 breeding pairs that do and do not remain together for consecutive springs.
 This analysis was conducted at two different spatiotemporal scales: the
 number of shared flocking events at supplementary feeders, and how often
 pairs came to the feeder immediately before or after each other within
 flocking events that they shared. All data analysis was done in R Version
 4.2.2. ### Files and variables #### File: Analysis_code.R
 **Description:** The code used to analyse the data and produce results and
 plots included in the manuscript. #### File: event_information_1.csv File:
 event_information_2.csv File: event_information_3.csv **Description:** 
 These CSV files contain each flocking event calculated from data used in
 the analysis, including information about flock size, location, and time.
 Flocking events were calculated using the asnipe package. CSV 1 contains
 records from winter 2011/12, CSV 2 from winter 2012/13, and CSV 3 from
 winter 2013/14. Columns are the same across each file. Column summary: \-
 flockevent Flocking event number \- location Feeder id where the flocking
 event occurred \- start.time Time when the flocking event was estimated to
 begin \- stop.time Time when the flocking event was estimated to end \-
 flocksize Number of tagged birds observed in the flocking event \- day Day
 of the year that the flocking event was recorded (e.g., February 2 = 33)
 \- year Data year in which the flocking event was recorded Data years are
 calculated as follows Winter 2011/12 = 2012 Winter 2012/13 = 2013 Winter
 2013/14 = 2014 #### File: birds_flocking_events_1.csv File:
 birds_flocking_events_2.csv File: birds_flocking_events_3.csv
 **Description:**  These CSV files provide a record of every flocking event
 a bird was a part of, along with the location, date, and time of that
 event. CSV 1 contains records from winter 2011/12, CSV 2 from winter
 2012/13, and CSV 3 from winter 2013/14. Columns are the same across each
 file. Column summary: \- ring Bird BTO ring number \- flockevent Flocking
 event number (unique within but not between data years) \- location Feeder
 the flocking event occurred at \- start_time Time the flocking event began
 \- stop_time Time the flocking event ended \- nwkend Weekend of the year
 that the flocking event occurred in \- arrive Was the individual's
 flocking event before this one at a different feeder? (Binary TRUE/FALSE).
 NAs in this column occur at the first record at a feeder on a given day,
 as we are unable to say whether the bird was at a different feeder before
 that record. \- leave Was the individual's flocking event after this
 one at a different feeder? (Binary TRUE/FALSE). NAs in this column occur
 at the last record at a feeder on a given day, as we are unable to say
 whether the bird was at a different feeder after that record. \- day
 Julian day that the flocking event occurred \- year Data year in which the
 flocking event was recorded Data years are calculated as follows Winter
 2011/12 = 2012 Winter 2012/13 = 2013 Winter 2013/14 = 2014 \- exday
 'Experimental day' - day of data being recorded during that data
 year. As recording is only on weekends and started at slightly different
 times across years, the relationship between exday and day will differ
 between data years. #### File: individual_records_1.csv File:
 individual_records_2.csv File:individual_records_3.csv **Description:** 
 Each of these CSV files contains demographic information for each
 individual observed across the years of data collection. CSV 1 contains
 records from winter 2011/12, CSV 2 from winter 2012/13, and CSV 3 from
 winter 2013/14. Columns are the same across each file. Column summary: \-
 id BTO ring number of the individual \- species Species codes are as
 follows: 'bluti' = Blue tit 'greti' = Great tit
 'coati' = Coal tit 'marti' = Marsh tit
 'nutha' = Nuthatch Only great tit records are used in this
 analysis \- sex The individual's sex (M, F, or U (unknown)) \- age
 Estimated age of the individual from ringing records \- immigrant
 'FALSE' if the bird was ringed as a chick in Wytham Woods,
 'TRUE' otherwise #### File: records_events_list_1.csv File:
 records_events_list_2.csv File: records_events_list_3.csv
 **Description:**  These CSV files contain each record of a tagged bird at
 a feeder, along with additional information, such as the flocking event of
 that record and preceding/following birds, to help with analysis and
 cross-reference. CSV 1 contains records from winter 2011/12, CSV 2 from
 winter 2012/13, and CSV 3 from winter 2013/14. Columns are the same across
 each file. Column summary: \- id ID number for each individual bird \-
 location Feeder ID where the visit was recorded \- time Time at which the
 visit was recorded \- day Day of the year that the visit was recorded
 (e.g., February 2 = 33) \- year Data year in which the visit was recorded
 Data years are calculated as follows Winter 2011/12 = 2012 Winter 2012/13
 = 2013 Winter 2013/14 = 2014 \- flockevent Flocking event that this record
 is classified in, to allow cross-referencing with other data. \- lastbird
 ID of the bird observed at the relevant feeder in the record before. NAs
 in this column occur at the first record at a feeder on a given day, as we
 are unable to say which bird was at the feeder before that record. \-
 nextbird ID of the bird observed at the relevant feeder in the record
 after. NAs in this column occur at the last record at a feeder on a given
 day, as we are unable to say whether the bird was at a different feeder
 after that record. \- arrive Is this the first consecutive record of this
 bird at this feeder? I.e has this bird just 'arrived' (binary
 TRUE/FALSE). NAs in this column occur at the first record at a feeder on a
 given day, as we are unable to say whether the bird was at a different
 feeder before that record. \- leave Is this the last consecutive record of
 this bird at this feeder? I.e after this record does the bird
 'leave' (binary TRUE/FALSE). NAs in this column occur at the
 last record at a feeder on a given day, as we are unable to say whether
 the bird was at a different feeder after that record. \- exday
 'Experimental day' - day of data being recorded during that data
 year. As recording is only on weekends and started at slightly different
 times across years, the relationship between exday and day will differ
 between data years. #### File: pair_statuses_allyears.csv
 **Description:**  This data frame provides the foundation for the pairs
 which are used for analysis, as well as allowing a more detailed
 demonstration of how pair statuses are estimated. Column summary: \-
 male.id ID of the male bird within the pair \- female.id ID of the female
 bird within the pair \- pair.id Unique identifier for pairs (consistent
 across years) created by pasting together the male id and female id \-
 year Data year for which pair status is being calculated. For the breeding
 season, data year is the spring in which the pair was observed (i.e spring
 2012 = 2012) \- pairobs.year Whether the pair bred together during the
 data year \- maleobs.year Whether the male was observed breeding during
 that year \- femaleobs.year Whether the female was observed breeding
 during that year \- pairobs.prev Whether the pair bred together during the
 previous year \- maleobs.prev Whether the male was observed breeding
 during the previous year \- femaleobs.prev Whether the female was observed
 breeding during the previous year \- male.juv Is the male a juvenile (born
 in the previous year)? \- female.juv Is the female a juvenile (born in the
 previous year)? \- male.later Is the male observed in any year after this
 one (do we know he is not dead)? \- female.later Is the female observed in
 any year after this one (do we know she is not dead)? \- status Defined
 pair status (see manuscript supplementary material for a description of
 status options) \- simplestatus Statuses condensed into fewer, more usable
 categories (categories used in final analysis) \- maledata.prev Is there
 usable feeder record data for the male in the winter before the relevant
 spring? NAs in this column are used for birds in pairs in the springs of
 2011 or 2015 which did not have a feeder experiment run during the
 previous winter. \- femaledata.prev Is there usable feeder record data for
 the female in the winter before the relevant spring? NAs in this column
 are used for birds in pairs in the springs of 2011 or 2015 which did not
 have a feeder experiment run during the previous winter. \- maledata.next
 Is there usable feeder record data for the male in the winter following
 the relevant spring? NAs in this column are used for birds in pairs in the
 springs of 2014 or 2015 which did not have a feeder experiment run during
 the following winter. \- femaledata.next Is there usable feeder record
 data for the female in the winter following the relevant spring? NAs in
 this column are used for birds in pairs in the springs of 2014 or 2015
 which did not have a feeder experiment run during the following winter. \-
 pairdata.prev Is there usable feeder record data for both birds in the
 winter before the relevant spring? NAs in this column are used for pairs
 in the springs of 2011 or 2015 which did not have a feeder experiment run
 during the previous winter. \- pairdata.next Is there usable feeder record
 data for both birds in the winter following the relevant spring? NAs in
 this column are used for pairs in the springs of 2014 or 2015 which did
 not have a feeder experiment run during the following winter. #### File:
 rand_assoc.csv **Description:**  This dataframe provides a list of, for
 each focal individual used in the analysis, every individual they were
 observed sharing a flocking event with. Column summary: \- id Focal bird
 BTO ring number \- pairnum Unique identifier for the pair which the focal
 individual is a part of \- year Data year for the pair and relevant
 winter. Data years are calculated as follows Winter 2011/12 = 2012 Winter
 2012/13 = 2013 Winter 2013/14 = 2014 \- original_pairid The BTO ring
 number of the bird in the focal bird's original analysis pair. \- sex
 The focal bird's sex (M, F, or U) \- pairtype 'original' =
 the pair recorded in this row is an original pair, used in the other
 analyses 'random' = the pair recorded in this row is the focal
 bird and a non-pair associate \- rand_pairid BTO ring number of the
 non-pair associate. NAs are used when the pair is original, so there is no
 non-pair associate. \- day Julian day that the association was observed \-
 maxpairs The number of non-pair associates the focal bird had on that day
 \- final_pairid The 'original_pairid' and
 'rand_pairid' columns merged, recording the relevant partner of
 the focal bird for that row with no NAs. \- exday 'Experimental
 day' - day of data being recorded during that data year. As recording
 is only on weekends and started at slightly different times across years,
 the relationship between exday and day will differ between data years. \-
 sharedevents Number of flocking events the focal bird and partner
 (final_pairid) were observed in together on that day \- focal.n.events
 Number of flocking events the focal bird was observed in on that day \-
 partner.n.events Number of flocking events the partner was observed in on
 that day \- simplestatus Pair status of the 'original' pair \-
 sri Winter association score as calculated with sharedevents,
 focal.n.events, and partner.n.events \- failures partner.n.events +
 focal.n.events + sharedevents, to be used in modelling ## Code/software
 Commented code is available in Analysis_code.R. All analysis was completed
 in R version 4.2.2, using the following additional packages: tidyverse
 (Version 2.0.0: [https://www.tidyverse.org](https://www.tidyverse.org))
 glmmTMB (Version 1.1.9:
 [https://github.com/glmmTMB/glmmTMB](https://github.com/glmmTMB/glmmTMB))
 data.table (Version 1.14.8:
 [https://r-datatable.com](https://r-datatable.com)) DHARMa (Version 0.4.6:
 [http://florianhartig.github.io/DHARMa/](http://florianhartig.github.io/DHARMa/)) ggeffects (Version 1.5.1: [https://strengejacke.github.io/ggeffects](https://strengejacke.github.io/ggeffects/)) AICcmodavg (Version 2.3-1) igraph (Version 1.3.5: [https://igraph.org](https://igraph.org)) sna (Version 2.7-1: [https://statnet.org](https://statnet.org)) asnipe (Version 1.1.16) vegan (Version 2.6-4: [https://github.com/vegandevs/vegan](https://github.com/vegandevs/vegan)) glmnet (Version 4.1-8: [https://glmnet.stanford.edu](https://glmnet.stanford.edu)) sf (Version 1.0-9: [https://r-spatial.github.io/sf/](https://r-spatial.github.io/sf/)) geosphere (Version 1.5-18) terra (Version 1.7-3: [https://rspatial.org/terra/](https://rspatial.org/terra/)) janitor (Version 2.2.0: [https://github.com/sfirke/janitor](https://github.com/sfirke/janitor)) ape (Version 5.7-1: [http://ape-package.ird.fr/](http://ape-package.ird.fr/)) semTools (Version 0.5-6: [https://github.com/simsem/semTools/wiki](https://github.com/simsem/semTools/wiki)) ggpubr (Version 0.6.0: [https://rpkgs.datanovia.com/ggpubr/](https://rpkgs.datanovia.com/ggpubr/))