--- title: "Wild Jackdaws Benefit from Maintaining Social Bonds During Foraging" url: https://newscentral.site/wild-jackdaws-benefit-from-maintaining-social-bonds-during-foraging/ language: en publisher: "News Central Site" section: "Science" published: 2026-10-18T14:20:01.000Z updated: 2026-10-18T17:24:45.464Z id: 96c0e30e-43c4-4f91-b8ac-9388d6ac6d1c source: "Phys.org https://phys.org/news/2026-10-social-bonds-wild-jackdaws.html" attribution: "Link to https://newscentral.site/wild-jackdaws-benefit-from-maintaining-social-bonds-during-foraging/ and name News Central Site when you quote or summarize this story." --- # Wild Jackdaws Benefit from Maintaining Social Bonds During Foraging Researchers at the University of Exeter and Swansea University discovered that wild jackdaws with strong social connections tend to live longer and have better reproductive outcomes. Wild jackdaws have been found to benefit from maintaining close social bonds, even if it means waiting longer to feed. Researchers at the University of Exeter and Swansea University conducted a study on these birds, which are part of the crow family, to understand how social relationships influence their foraging behavior. While studying wild jackdaws, the researchers discovered that individuals with strong social connections tend to live longer and have better reproductive outcomes. This pattern is observed in many animal species, but the reasons behind it were not clear until now. The study aimed to uncover the benefits of social relationships during foraging, a crucial aspect of survival and reproduction. To achieve this, the researchers focused on how social bonds shape decisions and outcomes while searching for food in jackdaws. In an interview with Phys.org, Luca G. Hahn, the first author of the paper, highlighted the importance of understanding why animals benefit from their social relationships. He noted that strong social connections can lead to better survival rates and reproductive success, but the underlying reasons remained unclear until this study. The study's findings suggest that close social relationships can provide feeding advantages for jackdaws, even if it means waiting longer before they can feed. This indicates a trade-off between maintaining social bonds and immediate access to food resources. Wild jackdaws living in Cornwall, UK, were studied by researchers over a period of two years to understand how social bonds impact their foraging behavior. The birds were fitted with color-coded leg bands that allowed researchers to identify and track individual birds visiting feeding stations. These feeding stations were designed to accommodate only one bird at a time, while another would have to wait in line behind. This setup enabled the team to observe which birds foraged together, how they coordinated their activities, and whether they tolerated or displaced each other. By creating this controlled environment, researchers could test whether social partnerships benefited jackdaws when competing for food. According to the study's lead researcher, providing a standardized setting allowed them to measure the influence of social relationships on foraging decisions made by individual birds. These decisions can have a direct impact on access to food and potentially even information about available resources. The team's observations suggest that social bonds play a significant role in shaping the behavior of wild jackdaws when it comes to competing for limited food sources. Wild jackdaws have been observed to prioritize feeding alongside their bonded partners when competing for limited food sources. These social bonds appear to play a crucial role in determining the behavior of wild jackdaws at feeding stations. The birds tend to associate with their bonded partners and coordinate their activities, often arriving together and showing higher tolerance towards each other during feeding. When individuals waiting in line are unable to feed, they seem willing to accept time and opportunity costs to allow their bonded partner to access food first. This suggests that the benefits of maintaining social bonds outweigh the potential costs of waiting for a turn to feed. Feeding alongside a bonded partner appears to provide advantages, such as a lower risk of being displaced from the feeding station by another bird. Additionally, young birds following their parents may gain valuable opportunities to learn how to use these feeding stations effectively. The study's findings suggest that social bonds can be beneficial for jackdaws during foraging, even if it means sharing a feeding station and waiting longer for food. Researchers point out that under natural conditions, where competition for resources is common, social relationships can help individuals optimize their food intake, which may in turn impact survival or reproductive success. This implies that strong social bonds are not just beneficial for jackdaws but also crucial for their overall well-being. Future research aims to build on the team's findings and explore other aspects of social relationships within jackdaw society. For instance, the study has already shown that relationships between mates and relatives play a significant role in shaping foraging decisions and feeding outcomes. The researchers are interested in investigating whether close social partners are truly essential or if other social relationships can also provide benefits. They are currently testing whether jackdaws can locate patchy resources with the help of more transient associates, such as neighboring birds that they may not have a close relationship with. Additionally, the team is studying whether jackdaws form long-term relationships akin to friendships, and what role these relationships play in their foraging behavior. The study found that wild jackdaws with close social bonds were more likely to secure preferred feeding spots, but this advantage came at a cost in terms of waiting time. These birds have to wait longer for food when they are part of a group with strong social connections, indicating that the benefits of these relationships may be offset by the costs of delayed access to resources. --- Source: [Phys.org](https://phys.org/news/2026-10-social-bonds-wild-jackdaws.html) Published by News Central Site: https://newscentral.site/wild-jackdaws-benefit-from-maintaining-social-bonds-during-foraging/