In the wild, parrots have an extensive social life, which revolves around three primary types of relationships: parents/chicks, mates and friends. The social life of a parrot is often complex and involves a variety of behaviors and forms of communication. Understanding the social nature of a parrot in the wild may contribute to better care for our parrots in captivity.

I don’t intend to talk about parrots and chicks here, since we are talking about pet birds. But parrots do chose mates, even in captivity and that may not even be the same species of bird or even a bird at all. Since parrots do have a sex drive, they may form sexual attachments to people, other birds – not of the same species, and even inanimate objects. Read my previous blog – Sex and the Single Parrot.

This blog is aimed at people who have multiple birds. In the wild, there are two kinds of parrots. Interspecies flockers that hang out with other types of birds as a routine thing and intraspecies flockers usually hand out only with their own kind. Parrots from the Americas are mainly interspecies flockers and parrots from Africa are mainly intraspecies flockers. Birds from other areas vary in how much they hang out with other species. In captivity, your milage may vary, as the normal disclaimer goes.

When two parrots meet, there are several layers of interaction. Is the other bird the same sex? Is the other bird bigger? Is the other bird more aggressive? Remember that parrots, like people have personalities. Some birds are fine with just about anyone, but others want to be alone or assert their dominance. New birds should be introduced to each other where you can break up a potential fight. If you are introducing a big bird to a small one, there can be a life at risk. On the other hand, I have seen small birds that rule the roost.

Any new bird changes the group dynamics for the whole flock. If the new bird tries to hang out with a particular bird another bird may take exception to this. This has nothing to do with mating, it’s politics.
The term pecking order does not apply only to chickens. If the aggression is simply squabbling, it is best to let the birds sort things out for themselves. On the other hand, if you see things getting really out of hand, it is best to break it up quickly. A bird can lose an eye or a toe really quickly. In the end, it’s up to the human to settle hard core disputes. After all, we are the ones who are supposed to be in charge!