Sex-recognition, bond and mating:

Wild African grey parrots are most probably monogamous. Pairs of grey parrots sometimes breed close to each other in loose colonies of up to several hundreds of pairs, contrary to some new world parrots, that live in couples withdrawn from the rest of the flock during the mating season.

The pre-bonds of subadult birds can lead to an adult long-lasting partnership. When two birds become sexually mature, a very clear hierarchy is developed within the couple (the male is usually the dominant partner).

The mating rituals are not very well known in the case of grey parrots. Some displays are quite manifest, for example both birds walk to and fro on a perch with dangling wings, scratch themselves several times with their foot and rub one another's bill. Beak wrestling sometimes takes place which might be a preliminary stage before allofeeding. However, courtship is not very specific: allopreening, regurgitation, strutting and posturing of the male (shoulders raised and slightly spread), tail fanshaped, neck feathers puffed out, eyes pinning and groaning.

There are very few displays which are exclusively shown during the mating ritual. Most behavioural patterns can be seen during the whole year and are simply intensified during the mating period.

Prospecting for an appropriate nesting site and protecting it: the breeding season varies with the locality (Juniper and Parr, 1998). The parrots (especially the males) become more and more aggressive at the beginning of the mating period. The couples leave the flock and look for a nesting site. The chosen nests are usually in tree-cavities (10 to 30 metres above the ground) and are carefully transformed by the parents and widened with their bills. The sawdust resulting from that process is used as a substrate for the nest.

Copulation, laying eggs, incubation: the male usually needs several attempts to copulate successfully, as the female often repulses her partner. When she is ready, it is the female that triggers the act, in which she gets into a typical submissive position that reminds us of the begging of chicks. The mating ritual is usually displayed by birds that are mating for the first time. Among experienced parrots, the mating process is often incomplete and less intensive, which can lead to spontaneous copulation.

At first the hen sits only a few minutes a day on its eggs, then a few hours and later all night and all day. It usually lays one egg every other day and altogether 4 to 5 eggs. The female begins with the incubation when the second egg has been laid. The laying of the eggs often takes place at dawn or during the afternoon. The male protects the nest with increased aggressiveness and feeds the female through the entry hole of the nest. The incubation of grey parrots' eggs lasts 26-28 days (Lantermann, 1999).

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