What dictates the social strategy adopted by Weaver bird species regarding their habitat?
Answer
The dominant, most reliable food source of the habitat
A central theme in the study of weaver birds is the pronounced connection between their diet and their resulting social behavior, confirming long-standing theories. The fundamental determinant that shapes the social strategy—whether it leads to colonial nesting and polygamy or solitary living and monogamy—is primarily the resource availability profile of the area. Specifically, it is the dominant and most consistent food source available in that environment (like clustered seeds or dispersed insects) that sets the evolutionary path for their aggregation patterns and mating systems.
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