Analysis of cowbird social networks with graph theory metrics.

Animal social behavior research has recently moved from focusing on a dyad [2] to consider how other members of a social group are influenced by those dyadic interactions in a complex network [5]. With this shift in emphasis, analytical tools and metrics from graph theory have begun to appear in the animal behavior literature. Croft et al. analyzed social networks in guppies. Although current studies [1, 4]take a first step towards developing parameters and hypothesis tests, neither considers how those parameters might be influenced by changes in community features. In this study, I explore the effects of changes in community features over BC values and ask whether the presence of juvenile females influences the social dynamics of cowbird (Molothrus ater) social networks