Repeated successful nest sharing and cooperation between Western Kingbirds (Tyrannus verticalis) and a female western kingbird X scissor-tailed flycatcher (T. forficatus) hybrid

Nest sharing by birds, or the phenomenon where multiple individuals of different species contribute genetically and parentally to a single nest, is a rare form of cooperative breeding that has only occasionally been reported in socially monogamous birds. Here we describe, both behaviorally and genetically, the unique case of two female birds, a western kingbird (Tyrannus verticalis) and a western kingbird x scissor-tailed flycatcher (T. forficatus) hybrid simultaneously occupying (and likely co-incubating) a brood in a single nest. Both females provisioned nestlings, and they did this in two consecutive years (producing four fledglings each year). Genomic data from the females revealed that they were unrelated and parentage analyses revealed that both females contributed genetically to at least one of the offspring, and at least two fathers were involved. In total, this is the first reported case of nest sharing involving a hybrid individual and the first case within the family Tyrannid..., , , # Repeated Successful Nest Sharing and Cooperation between Western Kingbirds (Tyrannus verticalis) and a Female Western Kingbird x Scissor-tailed Flycatcher (T. forficatus) Hybrid

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.w6m905qz0](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.w6m905qz0)

## Description of the data and file structure

To determine the relatedness of offspring from a shared nest that involved two western kingbirds and a female western kingbird x scissor-tailed flycatcher hybrid in Arkansas.

### Files and variables

#### File: 5\_ind\_kingbird\_fasta\_13\_mtDNA\_trimmed\_named.fas

**Description:** Aligned and trimmed FASTA file of 13 mtDNA genes used to build a neighbor-joining tree of 5 individual kingbirds

#### File: Consensus\_H1517\_Hybrid\_female\_mtDNA.unpadded.fasta

**Description:** Output file of MITObim used to extract 13 mtDNA protein-coding genes for 5 kingbirds

#### File: Consensus\_H3020\_Fledgling\_A\_mtDNA.unpadded.fasta

**Description:** Output file of MITObim used to extract...