As humans, we often consider ourselves to be a very unique species in the animal kingdom.

One of the reasons for that is the wide variety in the types of relationships we form, as we

consistently deviate from the natural phenomenon we notice in other species called “kin

selection.”

“Kin selection” describes the common practice of animals helping their direct blood relatives as

a natural inclination to promote their genes.

Humans form various complex relationships with others who are not related to them. Many

people believe other members of the animal kingdom are more focused on survival than

connection. The truth is, the phenomenon of friendships and other non-kin helpful behavior isn’t

well studied in other species, because it requires decades of time and data.

*African starling call SFX*

That was the call of the African starling, a small bird with burnt orange and iridescent blue-green

plumage, not unlike the iridescent plumage we see on European starlings and grackles in North

America.

African starlings are the bird subject species for a recent behavioral research study by former

Columbia PhD student Alexis Earl and her colleagues in the lab of Professor Dustin Rubenstein.

Earl, Rubenstein and their colleagues collected behavioral and genetic data across 40 breeding

seasons and observed the interactions of thousands of African starlings to better understand

their genetic relationships and societal structures.

So far, the study has found that starling societies, much like human societies, are complex and

made up of both related and unrelated individuals living together. While the starlings were noted

to prefer to help their kin, they also consistently chose to help specific non-kin birds.

To add to that finding, they also noticed long-term reciprocal relationships between unrelated

bird pairs, in which the birds swapped social roles throughout their lifetimes. This kind of

relationship takes decades for an outside eye to notice and understand.

There is no doubt that these reciprocal helpful behavior patterns seem to reflect the relationship

style we refer to as friendship. Rubenstein, in response to the study’s findings, says he believes

these behaviors exist in many animal species and societies that have yet to be studied long

enough to be detected