Dataset, statistical analysis code, and supplementary material of juvenile ravens' responses towards acoustic cues of different social categories

Social competence i.e., defined as the ability to adjust the expression of
social behaviour to the available social information, is known to be
influenced by early-life conditions. Brood size might be one of the
factors determining such early conditions, particularly in species with
extended parental care. We here tested in ravens, whether growing up in
families of different sizes affects the chicks’ responsiveness to social
information. We experimentally manipulated the brood size of 20 captive
raven families, creating either small or large families. Simulating
dispersal, juveniles were separated from their parents and temporarily
housed in one of two captive non-breeder groups. After five weeks of
socialization, each raven was individually tested in a playback setting
with food-associated calls from three social categories: sibling, familiar
unrelated raven they were housed with, and unfamiliar unrelated raven from
the other non-breeder aviary. We found that individuals reared in small
families were more attentive than birds from large families, in particular
towards the familiar unrelated peer. These results indicate that variation
in family size during upbringing can affect how juvenile ravens value
social information. Whether the observed attention patterns translate into
behavioural preferences under daily life conditions remains to be tested
in future studies.