Data for: Genetic relatedness shapes social dynamics in a threatened finch: Implications for population assessment

Tropical granivorous finches often form large flocks around resources. The composition of these flocks, whether they are random groups of individuals or comprise related birds travelling together, is currently unknown. Understanding this distinction would aid in assessing the accuracy of population counts. To bridge this knowledge gap, we combined high-frequency location tracking with comprehensive genetic sequencing to investigate the relationship between pairwise association strength and genetic relatedness in Gouldian finches (Erythrura gouldiae). Our study revealed that birds captured near each other were more inclined to travel together, and their relatedness was significantly linked to the strength of their association. These findings suggest that within-flock associations are influenced by genetic relatedness, contributing to the stability of the flock size. We propose that juvenile kin associations play a pivotal role in this dynamic, potentially enhancing survival rates by form..., Seventy-six Gouldian finches were captured across three capture periods (sessions) in May, July, and October 2019. Birds were trapped at waterholes using mist nets, and each finch was uniquely banded, and a 70 µm blood sample for genetic analyses was extracted. Tracking data were stored and can be accessed via the Motus Wildlife Tracking System (Motus project #241).
Social associations
Raw detection data was downloaded from the Motus platform (www.motus.org) and processed to remove detections within the first 24 hours post-release to allow for a post-tagging acclimation period. Detections with run lengths (number of consecutive uniquely coded detections by a receiver) of < 4 were also removed to exclude observations with a higher probability of false detection. 
We identified associations between tagged conspecifics following a ‘gambit of the group’ approach, with individuals considered to be associating if they were observed co-occurring at fixed receivers simultaneously. We used th..., , # Data for: **Genetic Relatedness Shapes Social Dynamics in a Threatened Finch: Implications for Population Assessment**

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.ttdz08m59](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.ttdz08m59)

This dataset contains the data from 37 Gouldian finches (*Erythrura gouldiae*) individuals used to investigate the correlation between pairwise association strength (Simple Ratio Index; SRI) and pairwise genetic distance. We used Linear Mixed-effects (LME) models in the ‘*nlme*’ package in R, together with the ‘corMLPE’ package (provided at [https://github.com/nspope/corMLPE](https://github.com/nspope/corMLPE)). This package implements a correlation structure to account for a pairwise data structure (or correlation structure for “Clarke’s maximum likelihood population effects model”). We fitted the pairwise SRI measures as the response variable and the pairwise genetic distance as the predictor. We also tested the effect of different covariates on the SRI measures, including geographi...