Ecological, demographic and social factors of helping decisions in a facultative cooperative breeder

The evolution of sociality represents one of the major evolutionary transitions in the history of life, enabling the development of complex behaviours like cooperation. While the consequences of sociality for individuals’ fitness are well understood, proximate drivers of cooperation remain contentious. I will present my current research aiming to investigate the role of 10 ecological and demographic drivers of individuals’ decisions to help or not, using 27 years of data from long-tailed tits—a facultative cooperative breeder. I will also take this opportunity to present to you my plans to investigate social networks.​