Spatial relatedness and brood parasitism in a female-philopatric bird population

The spatial structure of relatedness between individuals in a population can be crucial for social selection and evolution. Here we analyze a female alternative reproductive tactic, conspecific brood parasitism, in relation to spatial relatedness among females in a Baltic Sea population of the common eider Somateria mollissima. The role of relatedness in brood parasitism is debated: some models predict parasite avoidance of related hosts, others predict host-parasite relatedness. We estimate pairwise relatedness from protein fingerprinting of egg albumen in 156 nests, with pairwise nest distances ranging from 1 to 6 km. Relatedness increases significantly from the longest distances to an average of r approximate to 0.09 below 20 m. Brood parasitism is common, and average pairwise relatedness between host and parasite is estimated at 0.18-0.21. Parasites thus do not avoid relatives, and combined with the findings of a similar study in another eider population, the results show that mean host-parasite relatedness is higher than that among close neighbors. High host-parasite relatedness is therefore not an effect of natal philopatry alone; some other form of kin bias is also involved. Recognition and association between birth nest mates is a candidate mechanism for further study.