DOI: 10.5061/dryad.5qfttdzkf
title: Variable social organisation and breeding system of a social parrot revealed by genetic analysis

description: Social organisation and contributions to reproduction vary widely within
 and between species that breed in groups. Such variation often arises from
 the process of group formation, which drives patterns of relatedness and
 hence the degree of social conflict and cooperation between group members.
 Using field observations and molecular genetics, we investigated breeding
 behaviour in an urban population of the highly social Monk Parakeet,
 Myiopsitta monachus, to address two objectives. First, we investigated
 breeding group frequency, composition and formation, finding that 19% of
 breeding units were cooperative groups, ranging in size from 3-5 birds,
 the remainder being pairs (81%). Group composition was variable with
 multi-male, multi-female and multi-male-female groups. Relatedness in
 breeding groups also varied with many containing kin, but some groups
 containing only non-kin. This variation reflected alternative routes to
 group formation, including offspring retention by pairs, sibling
 coalitions and aggregation of unrelated individuals. Secondly, we
 investigated productivity, reproductive investment and patterns of
 parentage in relation to the size of breeding units. Productivity did not
 differ significantly between pairs and groups. We detected extra-pair
 paternity in 27% of broods raised by pairs, and parentage shared among
 more than two members of most breeding groups, with joint-nesting by
 females detected in multi-female groups.
description: # Variable social organisation and breeding system of a social parrot
 revealed by genetic analysis Dataset DOI:
 [10.5061/dryad.5qfttdzkf](10.5061/dryad.5qfttdzkf) ## Description of the
 data and file structure Pairwise relatedness data (Queller & Goodnight
 estimates) were obtained to characterise the dyadic relatedness of monk
 parakeets living in the same social group. The dataset comprises data for
 figures in the published paper: (a) pairwise Queller and Goodnight
 relatedness estimates for dyads of individuals within monk parakeet social
 groups; (b) mean pairwise Queller and Goodnight relatedness estimates
 among individuals living in the same social group; (c) pairwise Queller
 and Good night relatedness estimates among same-sex and opposite-sex
 individuals living within the same social group. ### Files and variables
 #### File: Figure_2_data.xlsx **Description:** Mean pairwise relatedness
 among all individual monk parakeets living in the same social group (n =
 22 groups across 2 years). ##### Variables: C1 social group identifier; C2
 mean pairwise relatedness within that group (calculated from data in
 'Figure_2_data2'); C3 year of data collection (2018 or 2019); C4
 whether any individuals that were unmarked were present in the group (Y -
 yes, N - no). #### File: Figure_2_data2.xlsx **Description:** Pairwise
 relatedness estimates for dyads of individuals living in the same social
 group (n = 67 dyads across 2 years). ##### Variables C1 and C2 Individual
 identifiers for each dyad living in the same social group; C3 social group
 identifier; C4 pairwise relatedness of the dyad in C1 and C2; C5 year of
 data collection (2018 or 2019); C6 whether any individuals that were
 unmarked were present in the group (Y - yes, N - no). #### File:
 Figure_3_data.xlsx **Description:** Pairwise relatedness estimates for
 same-sex and opposite-sex dyads of individuals of known sex living in the
 same social group (n = 57 dyads across 2 years). ##### Variables C1 and C2
 individual identifiers for each dyad living in the same social group; C3
 pairwise relatedness of the dyad in C1 and C2; C4 year of data collection
 (2018 or 2019); C5 whether any individuals that were unmarked were present
 in the group (Y - yes, N - no). C6 sex of bird whose identity is listed in
 C2 C7 sex of bird whose identity is listed in C1 C8 whether the dyad was
 composed of same-sex individuals ('Same') or opposite-sex
 individuals ('Opposite') ## Code/software Excel