Kinship modulates the attention of naïve individuals to the mobbing behaviour of role models

The social acquisition of life skills is essential in a wide range of species. Field experiments have demonstrated that naïve young learn particularly from their parents how to deal with predators or how to find suitable food. However, it remains unclear whether the response of young differs in a novel situation when together with related (i.e. parents) or unrelated role models. We addressed this question in a group-living bird species, the Siberian jay, Perisoreus infaustus, groups of which can contain both related and unrelated juveniles. Groups are formed around a breeding pair which engages in prolonged parental care, facilitating delayed dispersal of offspring for up to 5 years. About 25% of juveniles are killed by predators during their first year of life, suggesting that predator avoidance is a crucial life skill for juveniles. Exposing groups to perched predator models showed that kinship influenced how juveniles responded to the mobbing behaviour of breeders. Upon exposure to a predator model, related juveniles immediately paid attention to the behaviour of breeders and copied most of their movements. In contrast, unrelated juveniles copied the behaviour of breeders less frequently, but regularly foraged in the presence of a predator model. These results show that juveniles respond differently to parents and unrelated role models, potentially affecting the acquisition of vital life skills. Parental care creates a close social bond, predisposing juveniles to pay attention especially to novel behaviours shown by their care-givers. Furthermore, parents have a fitness benefit from facilitating the skill acquisition of their offspring. Thus, a prolonged parent-offspring association is likely to enhance skill acquisition and influence cognitive evolution across species.