Parrots: The Animal Answer Guide

4. Parrot Behavior

46 Are parrots social? I pulled off the quiet country road to examine a bundle of green feathers lying on the verge. As I got out of the car, a flock of Superb Parrots (Polytelis swainsonii) exploded from the lush weeds growing by the road. The flock landed in a nearby tree, allowing me to quickly count 25 birds. The sexes were easily distinguishable, males having a distinctive yellow forehead and a yellow throat underlined by a red crescent. The roadside corpse turned out to be a female, less colorful than the male but still a beautiful bird with her orange bill and blue-grey cheeks. She had been feeding on wild oats, trampling the tall green stems to access the maturing seed. Disturbed by an approaching vehicle, she had flown across the road and been struck. The flock had looked on quietly while I played crime scene investigator, but took off calling loudly when I started my vehicle. They headed west, while I continued east. I hadn’t traveled far before coming across another flock of Superb Parrots, this time feeding in a flowering Yellow Box (Eucalyptus melliodora). Sixteen birds were distributed across the outer branches, some hanging upside down to reach the blossoms. As I counted and sexed this flock, a group of ten birds roared past on the opposite side of the road, grating calls heralding their approach. Experience had taught me roadsides were a good option for finding Superb Parrots, providing important foraging habitat and pathways in a landscape largely devoid of native vegetation. Nevertheless, observing three flocks of this threatened species in quick succession made it something of a red-letter day. The noisy spectacle they presented emphasized the social nature of the species. Differences in the size and behavior of flocks sugChapter 4 Parrot Behavior 47 Parrot Behavior gested each had a unique identity, hinting at the complex nature of relationships within the local population. Scientists have long been fascinated by the way animal groups are organized. Much of this research has focused on mammals having obviously complex social relationships. Parrots have received less attention, the collection of data hampered by an inability to identify and maintain contact with individuals that are often hidden from view and capable of making rapid long-distance movements. The few detailed studies on social organization have relied on captive populations or been undertaken at locations where wild birds congregate and can be easily observed. Exceptions include a handful of studies on Australian cockatoos and Costa Rican parrots. The late Ian Rowley (1926–2009) was responsible for some of the earliest studies on the behavioral ecology of parrots. One of Australia’s most decorated ornithologists, he is best known for his work on fairy-wrens, corvids , and cockatoos. His cockatoo research was undertaken in the Western Australian wheatbelt and made use of wing-tags to facilitate the recognition of individuals. The impetus for his eight-year study of Galahs (Eolophus roseicapillus) was their status as agricultural pests, while a subsequent seven-year study of Pink Cockatoos (Lophochroa leadbeateri) was motivated by concerns about the species’ conservation status. Graeme Chapman, a respected Australian natural history photographer, assisted with the latter study. These two studies were part of a larger program of research on the ecology of endemic cockatoos in Western Australia being undertaken by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO). The CSIRO was charged with undertaking research on species of economic importance, though this was broadly interpreted by staff and management. The way Rowley came to work on the Galah has entered Australian ornithological folklore. With the completion of his work on The town of Boorowa in country New South Wales has adopted the Superb Parrot (Polytelis swainsonii) as its emblem. It promotes itself with the slogan “Superb Parrot, Superb Country.” Matt Cameron 48 Parrots: The Animal Answer Guide corvids in eastern Australia, he was told by Harry Frith (a famous naturalist and then Chief of the Division of Wildlife Research) that “if you want to continue working on birds you will have to go to Western Australia and work on the Galah,” which was “the last available pest species.” Rowley found that Galahs nesting in woodland remnants formed stable associations that traveled together between roost sites and foraging areas, often joining up with other groups en route. The use of assembly areas provided an opportunity for groups to coordinate their activities. Juvenile and immature Galahs...