Editing Behavioral ecology (section)

====Environmental cues====
There are two simple rules that many animals follow to determine who is kin.  These rules can be exploited, but exist because they are generally successful.

The first rule is 'treat anyone in my home as kin.'  This rule is readily seen in the [[reed warbler]], a bird species that only focuses on chicks in their own nest.  If its own kin is placed outside of the nest, a parent bird ignores that chick.  This rule can sometimes lead to odd results, especially if there is a parasitic bird that lays eggs in the reed warbler nest.  For example, an adult [[cuckoo]] may sneak its egg into the nest.  Once the cuckoo hatches, the reed warbler parent feeds the invading bird like its own child.  Even with the risk for exploitation, the rule generally proves successful.<ref name=Davies/><ref name="reedwarbler">{{cite journal |author1=Davies, N. B.  |author2=M. de L. Brooke  |name-list-style=amp|title=Cuckoos versus reed warblers: Adaptations and counteradaptations |journal=[[Animal Behaviour (journal)|Animal Behaviour]] |volume=36 |year=1988 |issue= 1|pages=262–284 |doi=10.1016/S0003-3472(88)80269-0|s2cid=53191651 }}</ref>

The second rule, named by [[Konrad Lorenz]] as 'imprinting,' states that those who you grow up with are kin.  Several species exhibit this behavior, including, but not limited to the [[Belding's ground squirrel]].<ref name=Davies/> Experimentation with these squirrels showed that regardless of true genetic relatedness, those that were reared together rarely fought. Further research suggests that there is partially some genetic recognition going on as well, as siblings that were raised apart were less aggressive toward one another compared to non-relatives reared apart.<ref name="squirrel">{{cite journal |author1=Holmes, W.G  |author2=P.W. Sherman  |name-list-style=amp|year=1982 |title=The ontogeny of kin recognition in two species of ground squirrels |journal=[[American Zoologist]] |volume=22 |issue=3  |pages=491–517 |doi=10.1093/icb/22.3.491|doi-access=free }}</ref>

Another way animals may recognize their kin include the interchange of unique signals.  While song singing is often considered a sexual trait between males and females, male–male song singing also occurs. For example, male vinegar flies ''[[Zaprionus tuberculatus]]'' can recognize each other by song.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Bennet-Clark|first1=H. C.|last2=Leroy|first2=Y.|last3=Tsacas|first3=L.|date=1980-02-01|title=Species and sex-specific songs and courtship behaviour in the genus Zaprionus (Diptera-Drosophilidae)|journal=Animal Behaviour|volume=28|issue=1|pages=230–255|doi=10.1016/S0003-3472(80)80027-3|s2cid=53194769|issn=0003-3472}}</ref>