Avian species have been known to adopt various strategies to maximize their ability to improve their reproductive success. Cooperative breeding recognized as alloparental care to the nest or brood, from individuals termed as helpers or auxiliaries, generates a paradox that some individuals may assist at the cost of relinquishing independent breeding. It has been determined that Hamiltonian kin selection is not the sole explanation for this behavior and thus lies the potential to explore other environmental variables, such as habitat quality. Although the definition of habitat quality has proven to be controversial, metrics of habitat quality linked to site-specific reproductive output have proved useful in understanding this interdependence. Therefore, this study investigated a population of non-obligate cooperative breeding silver-throated bushtits (Aegithalos glaucogularis) near Dong Zhai National Park in Henan, China whose nesting behavior was closely monitored over an eight-year period. The amassed data was used to determine preference and reproductive success within particular nesting sites, substrates and canopy structure. The use of mixed effects models among others revealed that particular nesting site traits could predict preference, however, not all highly preferred substrates and nesting sites resulted in increased reproductive output. Additionally, auxiliary occurrence was found to be negatively linked to nesting site preference but positively correlated to reproductive output. These results indicate that estimates of habitat quality that do not incorporate reproductive success of the occupants may not reliably predict the intrinsic effects of nesting preference on the population’s fitness.

Chapter 1: Introduction

1.1 Habitat Quality 1

1.2 Breeding Biology 2

1.3 Cooperative Breeding 3

1.4 Purpose of study 5

Chapter 2: Methods

2.1 Study Site and Population 7

2.2 Occupancy Analysis 8

2.3 Substrate Analysis 10

2.4 Annual Reproductive Output Per Grid 10

2.5 Site Characteristic and Canopy Openness Data Collection 11

2.6 Site Characteristic Analysis 14

2.7 Canopy Analysis 16

Chapter 3: Results

3.1 Breeding Site and Preference 17

3.2 Substrate Results 18

3.3 Site Characteristics Results 20

3.4 Canopy Analysis Results 22

3.5 Reproductive Output Analysis Results 22

Chapter 4: Discussion

4.1 Preference vs Quality 25

4.2 Potential contributors to nest predation 27

4.3 Characteristics and foraging behavior 29

4.4 Auxiliary Occurrences 30

4.5 Conclusion 30

References 33

Appendix A. Nesting Site Survey Method 45

Appendix B. R-3.5.1 Outputs for Canopy Openness Regressions 46

Appendix C. Quantile regression in R-3.5.1 47

Appendix D. Moran’s I Spatial Autocorrelation Output in ArcMap 10.5 48

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