First degree:
Natural Sciences ( University of Pavia , Italy ) PhD:
Biology ( University of León , Spain ) Post doc:
Evolutionary Biology Centre ( Uppsala , Sweden ) Current position:
Ramón y Cajal Researcher ( University of Valladolid , Spain )
Current address:
Departamento de Ciencias Agro-Forestales
Campus La Yutera
Avenida de Madrid 44
34004 Palencia (Spain)
An interview with Dr Vittorio Baglione at IE University during Science Week 2009. Dr Baglione is an expert in cooperative behaviour in birds.
Questions: How common is cooperative behaviour in living organisms? What determines the trait to cooperate, the genes or the culture? Why is cooperativity among corvids important as a research topic?
I have discovered cooperative behaviour in Spanish carrion crows in 1995, while I was studying the ecology of corvid species for my PhD. In 1999 I started my post-doc in Sweden, focussing full time on cooperative breeding in crows. I established the bases for a long-term project and founded the research group that is working on different topics of sociality and cooperation in this species.
I have been interested primarily on the factors promoting delayed dispersal of offspring and the association between territorial breeders and immigrants. By combining molecular data, methods of radio telemetry, behavioural observations and field experiments, I uncovered the kin-based association between immigrant crows and dominant breeders of the same sex, providing one of the first compelling evidence of kin selection in a vertebrate social species. I investigated the role of territory quality on dispersal decisions of offspring and the factors that promote the geographic variability of sociality and cooperation.
My current research focuses on the relationship between sociality, cooperation and cognition.
It has been recently stressed the importance of “social culture”, that is the cultural transmission of knowledge and skills through generations, to explain levels of intelligence observed in current species. My aim is to investigate the cognitive abilities of carrion crows and to what extent they shape behavioural tactics in a social environment.
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Publications
Chiarati, E., Canestrari, D.,Vera, R., Marcos, J.M., Baglione, V. 2010.
Linear and stable dominance hierarchies in cooperative Carrion crows. Ethology, in press
Canestrari, D., Vera, R., Chiarati, E., Marcos, J. M., Vila, M., Baglione, V. 2010. False feeding: the trade-off between chicks' hunger and care-givers' needs in cooperative crows. Behavioral Ecology, 21: 233-241.
Baglione, V. and Canestrari, D. 2009. Kleptoparasitism and temporal segregation of sympatric corvids foraging in a refuse tip.
The Auk, 126: 566-578.
Canestrari, D., Marcos, J.M and Baglione, V. 2009. Cooperative breeding in carrion crows reduces the rate of brood parasitism by great spotted cuckoos. Animal Behaviour, 77:1337-1344 Download PDF
Canestrari, D., Chiarati, E., Marcos, J. M., Ekman, J. & Baglione, V. 2008.
Helpers but not breeders adjust provisioning effort to year-round territory resource availability in carrion crows. Animal Behaviour. Download PDF
Olea, P. P. & Baglione, V. 2008. Population trends of Rooks Corvus frugilegus in Spain and the importance of refuse tips. Ibis, 150, 98-109.
Vila, M., Robles, H., Ciudad, C., Olea, P. P. & Baglione, V. 2008. Isolation and characterization of 12 microsatellite markers in the middle-spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos medius). Molecular Ecology Resources, 8, 415-417.
Canestrari, D., Marcos, J. M. & Baglione, V. 2008. Reproductive success increases with group size in cooperative carrion crows Corvus corone corone. Animal Behaviour, 75, 403-416. Download PDF
Robles, H., Ciudad, C., Vera, R. & Baglione, V. 2007. No effect of habitat fragmentation on post-fledging, first-year and adult survival in the middle spotted woodpecker. Ecography, 30, 685-694.
Canestrari, D., Marcos, J. M. & Baglione, V. 2007. Costs of chick provisioning in cooperatively breeding carrion crows: an experimental study. Animal Behaviour, 73, 349-357. Download PDF
Baglione, V., Canestrari, D., Marcos, J. M. & Ekman, J. 2006. Experimentally increased food resources in the natal territory promote offspring philopatry and helping in cooperatively breeding carrion crows. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B, 273, 1529-1535. Download PDF(original version available at http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org)
Baglione, V., Marcos, J. M., Canestrari, D., Griesser, M., Andreotti, G., Bardini, C. & Bogliani, G. 2005. Does year-round territoriality rather than habitat saturation explain delayed natal dispersal and cooperative breeding in the carrion crow? Journal of Animal Ecology, 74, 842-851. Download PDF(original version available at www.wileyinterscience.com)
Canestrari, D., Marcos, J. M. & Baglione, V. 2005. Effect of parentage and relatedness on the individual contribution to cooperative chick care in carrion crows. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 52, 422-428. Download PDF(original version available at www.springer.com)
Canestrari, D., Marcos, J. M. & Baglione, V. 2004. False feedings at the nests of carrion crows Corvus corone corone. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 55, 477-483. Download PDF(original version available at www.springer.com)
Baglione, V., Canestrari, D., Marcos, J. M. & Ekman, J. 2003. Kin selection in cooperative alliances of carrion crows. Science, 300, 1947-1949.
Marcos, J. M. & Baglione, V. 2003. Adoptions in a co-operative population of Carrion Crow Corvus corone corone. Bird Study, 50, 306-308.
Baglione, V., Canestrari, D., Marcos, J. M., Griesser, M. & Ekman, J. 2002.
History, environment and social behaviour: experimentally induced cooperative breeding in the carrion crow. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B,
269, 1247-1251. Download PDF (original version available at http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org)
Baglione, V., Marcos, J. M., Canestrari, D. & Ekman, J. 2002. Direct fitness benefits of group living in a complex cooperative society of carrion crows, Corvus corone corone. Animal Behaviour, 64, 887-893. Download PDF
Baglione, V., Marcos, J. M. & Canestrari, D. 2002. Cooperatively breeding groups of Carrion Crow (Corvus corone corone) in northern Spain. Auk, 119, 790-799.
Ekman, J., Baglione, V., Eggers, S. & Griesser, M. 2001. Delayed dispersal: Living under the reign of nepotistic parents. Auk, 118, 1-10.
