Juvenile long-tailed tits (Aegithalos caudatus), a European relative of the chickadee, "help" adult birds raise offspring, such as by feeding their nestlings. What is the evolutionary advantage of helping behavior: practice for parenthood; increased changes of inheriting the adults' territory in future; or indirect genetic benefits via increased success of kin? To investigate, Russell and Hatchwell (2001) monitored the behavior of 17 juveniles, each of which lived equidistant from two nests of adult birds. In each case, one nest was parented by a relative of the helper, and the other was parented by non-kin adults. Sixteen of the juveniles helped at the nest of their kin, whereas one helped at the non-kin nest. Do these results provide evidence for preferential helping at the nests of kin? Conduct the appropriate test.

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